Chevron Swings to Profit, Buoyed by Cost Cuts

Chevron Corp. swung to a profit in the second quarter as it benefited from higher crude oil and natural gas prices and efforts to cut costs throughout its operations.

Chevron's average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was $41, up from $36 in the year-ago period. The company's average price of natural gas was $2.32 per thousand cubic feet, nearly double the price it realized a year ago.

Shares in the second-largest U.S. energy company, down 9.9% so far this year, were little changed in premarket trading at $106.08.

In all for the June quarter, Chevron reported a profit of $1.45 billion, or 77 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.47 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Chevron to report earnings of 89 cents a share.

Revenue surged 42% to $32.87 billion, topping the average analyst estimate of $32.09 billion.

Profit in Chevron's downstream, or refining, operations jumped 18% to $634 million in the quarter.

Upstream operations, which include exploration and drilling, meanwhile, in the U.S., slimmed its loss to $102 million from a $1.11 billion loss the year before.

In the latest period, operating expenses fell 7.1% and capital and exploratory spending declined 2.5%.

Meanwhile on Friday, rival Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. oil company, said its profit nearly doubled in the second quarter, signaling a strengthening in its business.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2017 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT)