ConocoPhillips Income Drops 95 Percent
(07-25) 06:20 PDT HOUSTON, (AP) —
ConocoPhillips said Wednesday its second-quarter profit dropped 95 percent as the nation’s third-largest oil company incurred a $4.5 billion charged related to its assets in Venezuela, where it has abandoned its heavy oil projects. But the company’s adjusted earnings topped Wall Street expectations.
The result amounted to $301 million, or 18 cents a share for the April-June period, compared with last year’s robust second quarter when ConocoPhillips posted a profit of $5.18 billion, or $3.09 a share.
Revenue in the most recent quarter rose to $47.4 billion from $47.1 billion in the year-ago period.
Excluding the Venezuelan impairment, ConocoPhillips’ adjusted earnings amounted to $4.8 billion, or $2.90 a share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast earnings of $2.68 a share.
ConocoPhillips, along with Exxon Mobil Corp., refused to sign deals last month with the Venezuelan government to keep pumping oil under tougher terms posed by President Hugo Chavez’s government.
ConocoPhillips continues negotiations with Venezuelan authorities on final compensatory terms for its multibillion-dollar investment in the country’s petroleum-rich Orinoco River basin. ConocoPhillips Chairman Jim Mulva has said such talks could take several more months.
The company said last month the $4.5 impairment was likely in the second quarter.
