Refinery business is a drag on Chevron earnings |
| Los Angeles Times - Jan 27, 2012 |
There are still many billions of dollars to be made in the old oil patch, even with the world far more focused on alternative and renewable sources of energy. But the business of refining that oil into various fuels is still a hard way to make a buck.
That's one of the lessons investors might draw from Chevron Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings report, released Friday. The San Ramon, Calif.-based oil giant raked in a net profit of $5.12 billion, or $2.58 a share. But losses in its refinery business during the period meant its profit fell below both its 2010 fourth-quarter performance and Wall Street expectations.
"If you are in the upstream part of the business, drilling for oil, you are making money," said James L. Williams, an energy economist and owner of WTRG Economics, based in London, Ark. "If you are downstream, in refining, you are losing."
Chevron's results left it 3.2% short of the $5.3 billion, or $2.64 a share, it earned during the final three months of 2010, even though the price of oil in the fourth quarter of 2011 was substantially higher than it had been a year earlier. Wall Street analysts had been expecting something between $2.84 to $2.88 a share.
Read Full Article from Los Angeles Times
- Posted: 2012-01-27 12:33:59
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