Chevron Corporation – CVX – Second quarter earnings and cash flow among strongest ever

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings of $7.2 billion ($3.66 per share – diluted) for the second quarter 2012, compared with $7.7 billion ($3.85 per share – diluted) in the 2011 second quarter.

“Our second quarter earnings and cash flow were among our strongest ever, even with softer oil markets,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Despite current weakness in the global economy, we continue to invest in our long-term growth projects to help deliver affordable energy to meet future demand. We took several important steps to advance our major upstream capital projects, in particular achieving milestones in our natural gas development projects in the Asia-Pacific region. We also expanded our global exploration resource acreage, including new leases in the Gulf of Mexico where we already hold a significant position.”

CVX – Important recent upstream milestones include:

• Australia – Signed nonbinding Heads of Agreement with Tohoku Electric for LNG offtake, and additional binding agreements with Tokyo Electric for LNG offtake and an equity interest, for the Wheatstone Project. To date, more than 80 percent of Chevron’s equity LNG from Wheatstone is covered under long-term agreements with customers in Asia.
• Australia – Announced a natural gas discovery, Pontus-1, in the Carnarvon Basin in 47.3 percent-owned Block WA-37-L.
• United Kingdom – Initiated front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the deepwater Rosebank Project west of the Shetland Islands.
• Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Acquired an 80 percent interest and operatorship in the Rovi and Sarta blocks.
• Suriname – Acquired a 50 percent interest in two offshore exploration blocks.
• Ukraine – Bid successfully for a 50 percent interest and operatorship in a shale gas block.
• United States – Bid successfully for additional shelf and deepwater exploration acreage in the Gulf of Mexico.

“In the downstream business, we continued divesting non-core assets, while also furthering work on new growth investments,” Watson added. The company completed the sale of several of its fuels-marketing and aviation businesses in the Caribbean, and the company’s 50 percent-owned GS Caltex affiliate in South Korea completed the sale of its power operations. On July 26, 2012, Caltex Australia Ltd., the company’s 50 percent-owned affiliate, announced that it plans to convert its Kurnell Refinery to an import terminal in 2014. In addition, the company’s 50 percent-owned Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC announced the execution of FEED contracts for an ethylene cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas and two polyethylene facilities near its Sweeny facility in Old Ocean, Texas.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in the second quarter 2012 under its share repurchase program.

About Chevron Corporation – CVX

Chevron Corporation (CVX) manages its investments in subsidiaries and affiliates and provides administrative, financial, management and technology support to the United States and international subsidiaries that engage in petroleum operations, chemicals operations, mining operations, power generation and energy services.

More Posts by this author

• CommVault – CVLT – Expands Fujitsu Partnership
• American Financial Group – AFG – Pleased with strong P&C underwriting results and record operating earnings in annuity and supplemental businesses
• Allot Communications – ALLT – Reports 43% Revenue Rise for Second Quarter of 2012
• U.S. Stocks Inch Higher Helped By Unexpectedly Stronger Economic Indicators
• Impax Laboratories – IPXL – Positive second quarter results
• Coach – COH – Strong double-digit sales and earnings gains
• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company – GT – Business is on track to achieve its 2013 target, one year ahead of plan

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.