Chevron (NYSE: CVX) reported on Friday adjusted earnings for the first quarter in line with analyst estimates as the U.S. supermajor’s downstream business recovered from a loss for the prior quarter.
Chevron booked adjusted earnings of $3.8 billion, or $2.18 per share, for the first quarter 2025, down from adjusted earnings of $5.4 billion, or $2.93 per share, for the same period of 2024. Despite the year-over-year slump in profits, the first-quarter EPS was slightly above the $2.16 earnings per share expected by the analyst consensus in The Wall Street Journal.
In the upstream, Chevron booked lower earnings compared to the year-ago period, due to lower oil realizations and higher operating expenses in the U.S.
Chevron’s U.S. net oil-equivalent production rose by 63,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a year earlier primarily due to higher production in the Permian Basin and Gulf of America, partly offset by lower output in the Rockies.
Worldwide production was relatively flat compared to a year ago as the impacts of asset sales were mostly offset by growth at the Tengizchevroil TCO project in Kazakhstan, in the Permian Basin, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the downstream business, Chevron posted earnings of $325 million for the first quarter, compared to a loss of $248 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, which was Chevron’s first loss in its refining division in four years.
Refined product sales increased by 4% compared to the year-ago period primarily due to higher demand for gasoline.
Chevron returned $6.9 billion of cash to shareholders during the first quarter of 2025, including share repurchases of $3.9 billion and dividends of $3.0 billion.
“Despite changing market conditions, our resilient portfolio, strong balance sheet, and consistent focus on capital and cost discipline position us to deliver industry-leading free cash flow growth by 2026,” Chevron’s chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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