ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) reported on Thursday a fourfold jump in its third-quarter earnings, easily beating analyst expectations, as higher oil prices helped the U.S. firm to book higher realized prices across all commodities.
ConocoPhillips posted third-quarter earnings of US$1.9 billion, or US$1.59 per share, up from US$400 million, or US$0.34 per share, earnings for the third quarter of 2017.
Adjusted earnings-excluding special items -came in at US$1.6 billion, or US$1.36 per share, jumping from adjusted earnings of US$200 million, or US$0.16 per share, in Q3 2017.
The special items in Q3 included recognized cash and commodities totaling US$345 million from the settlement agreement reached with Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA for the expropriation of ConocoPhillips assets in Venezuela a decade ago.
The remainder of the approximately US$500 million in initial payments from PDVSA are due in the fourth quarter, ConocoPhillips said in its earnings release today.
The adjusted earnings of US$1.36 per share for Q3 beat the analyst consensus of US$1.19 of The Wall Street Journal.
ConocoPhillips' cash from operations in Q3 was US$3.5 billion, exceeding capital expenditures, dividends, and share repurchases by US$600 million, the company said.
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Third-quarter production excluding Libya stood at 1.224 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), with underlying production up by 6 percent year on year.
ConocoPhillips slightly revised up its 2018 capital spending guidance to US$6.1 billion from US$6 billion, reflecting higher partner-operated spend. This is the second upward revision of capital guidance this year for Conoco, which raised in July the capital guidance to US$6 billion from US$5.5 billion.
"Our strategy is designed to generate superior returns through cycles by maintaining discipline, focusing on free cash flow and allocating this cash according to clear, shareholder-friendly priorities. This is what the market can expect from us again in 2019," Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO, said in the company statement.
Following the earnings release, shares in Conoco closed up 3.55 percent on the NYSE at 03:59 p.m. EDT.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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