LNG

ExxonMobil Corp., the largest US oil company and leading LNG producer and a partner of Qatar, said changes in natural gas prices would impact its second-quarter Upstream earnings by $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion compared with the first quarter even as the company was also overhauling trading activities and embarking on oil projects in Guyana and LNG expansion.

Chevron Corp. more than doubled net income in 2022 as oil and gas sales increased at higher prices and LNG export demand soared in the Atlantic and Pacific basins.

Chevron reported annual net income of $35.60 billion for the upstream and downstream divisions combined compared with $15.68Bln in the previous year as well as posting higher quarterly earnings.

For the fourth quarter, Chevron registered $6.37Bbln of profits versus $5.08Bln in the same three months of 2021 to the end of December.

Revenues in 2022 increased by 52 percent to $246.25Bln compared with $162.46Bln in the previous year from key assets in areas such as the Permian Basin, the Eastern Mediterranean and LNG export projects such as Gorgon and Wheatstone in Western Australia and Angola LNG in southwest Africa,

Fourth-quarter revenues jumped to $56.47Bln from $48.13 in the prior-year quarter.

“We delivered record earnings and cash flow in 2022, while increasing investments and growing US production to a company record,” said Mike Wirth, Chevron’s Chairman and Chief Executive.

US production

“The company’s investments increased by more than 75 percent from 2021, and annual US production increased to 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, led by 16 percent growth in Permian Basin unconventional production,” explained Wirth.

The San Ramon, California-based company said worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 3.01 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter 2022 and 3.00 million barrels per day for the full-year 2022.

Chevron added 1.1 billion barrels of net oil-equivalent proved reserves during last year.

“The largest net additions were from assets in the Permian Basin, Israel, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico” added Chevron.

The company also raised its quarterly dividend per share an additional 6 percent, to $1.51 per share, putting the company on track to increase its annual per share dividend for the 36th straight year.

In addition, the company’s board approved a new $75Bln share repurchase program.

Quarterly highlights

“We are well positioned to lead in both traditional and new energy businesses, while delivering higher returns, lower carbon and superior shareholder value,” declared Wirth.

Among Chevron’s quarterly highlights, the company listed the taking of final investment decisions on major integrated chemicals projects in Texas and Qatar for the company’s 50 percent owned affiliate, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC.

Chevron also approved a project to expand the Tamar gas facility offshore Israel.

It additionally announced a “significant” new natural gas discovery at the Nargis block in the East Med offshore Egypt.

The US major is also going forward with the Ballymore project in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico with design capacity of 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Chevron increased it carbon-reduction plans with multiple carbon-capture projects, including the Bayou Bend storage project in the US Gulf Coast. It also received permits to assess carbon storage offshore Australia.