ConocoPhillips reports 2Q loss of $179 million on low oil prices, tops Street forecasts

ConocoPhillips lost $179 million in the second quarter, after booking a profit in the same period last year, as a sizeable drop in oil prices weighed on the energy company's results.

Oil prices have plunged globally over the past year, and the Houston company said Thursday that its total realized price per barrel of oil equivalent was down 44 percent in the second quarter to $39.09. That compares to $70.17 in last year's quarter, when the company earned $2.08 billion.

Earnings in this year's quarter, adjusted for asset impairment costs and pretax expenses, came to 7 cents per share.

That topped expectations on Wall Street. Analysts there forecast, on average, earnings of 5 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.

ConocoPhillips countered some of the hit from oil prices by cutting expenses. Operating costs fell 11 percent in the quarter to $2.16 billion.

The energy company posted revenue of $8.66 billion in the most recent quarter, down from $14.7 billion a year ago.

Shares of ConocoPhillips edged down 3 cents to $52.87 in morning trading shortly after the market opened.

The stock price has decreased 23 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased slightly more than 2 percent. The stock has declined 38 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on COP at http://www.zacks.com/ap/COP

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Keywords: ConocoPhillips, Earnings Report