Chevron 2Q Production Expected to Ease

Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) expects its second-quarter production to decline slightly from the year-earlier period as lower output abroad offsets a modest increase domestically.

The second-largest U.S. oil company in market value after Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) forecast second-quarter earnings would be above its first-quarter profit thanks to asset-sale gains in the latest period, and a comparison with the previous quarter which included write-downs.

The company produced 2.6 million barrels of oil and natural gas in April and May, down 0.6% from the year-earlier period.

Throughout the oil giant's interim report, Chevron compared the first two months of the second quarter with the entire quarter of the year-earlier period and all of the first quarter of 2014.

Chevron's U.S. production in the first two months of the quarter reached about 665,000 barrels of oil and natural gas a day, an increase of 0.9% from the year-earlier quarter and a 3.9% increase from the first quarter, mostly because of less maintenance activity in the Gulf of Mexico and increased production in the Permian Basin.

International production reached 1.9 million barrels a day, down 1.1% year-to-year and falling 2.4% from the first quarter, on planned turnaround activity in Kazakhstan, in addition to the shutdown of the LNG facility in Angola.

Average realized U.S. oil prices edged down 0.3% to $92.01 a barrel in the first two months of the quarter from the year-earlier quarter, while international prices rose 7.1% to $100.35.

Average realized domestic natural-gas prices increased by 8.7% to $4.11 per thousand cubic feet in the first two months of the quarter from the year-earlier quarter. Prices outside the U.S. rose 1.2% to $6.

Chevron plans to report its second-quarter results on Aug. 1.