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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 22:10 GMT | more >>

Crude surge pays off for Chevron



By Upstream staff 

US supermajor Chevron saw its first-quarter earnings rose 10% as record oil prices outweighed weak profits from gasoline production.

Net income in the quarter rose to $5.17 billion, or $2.48 a share, from $4.72 billion, or $2.18 a share, last year. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn $2.41, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales and other revenue in the quarter rose 40% to $64.67 billion.

Benchmark US oil prices averaged a record of nearly $98 a barrel during the quarter, up nearly 70% from a year earlier.

But margins to produce gasoline have plummeted, with refiners struggling to push through higher crude costs to customers. First-quarter gasoline prices rose only 33% year over year in the US - less than half crude's rise.

Profits from the company's exploration and production unit rose 76% to $5.13 billion, while earnings from refining and marketing plunged 84% to $252 million.


Friday, 02 May, 2008, 13:03 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 02 May, 2008, 13:03 GMT

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