Chevron has reported $6.52bn in total earnings in the third quarter of 2023, a 41.9% decline in comparison with $11.23bn in the same period of last year.
Diluted earnings per share in the July-September period fell by 39.8% to $3.48.
Earnings decreased due to lower upstream realisations and lower margins on sales of refined products, Chevron said.
The US-based company’s total revenues and other income during the period under review fell 18.9% to $54.08bn from $66.64bn in the second quarter of 2022 due to lower commodity prices.
Net oil-equivalent production during the period was 3.15 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboed), up by 3.9% year on year (YoY).
Increase in oil production was attributed primarily to the takeover of PDC Energy.
International upstream earnings were down by 37.7% to $3.68bn YoY.
Lower realisations and sales volumes were the main causes of the decline in earnings from global upstream operations.
However, foreign exchange effects and a $560m one-time tax benefit in Nigeria helped to offset the declines.
Global downstream earnings also declined 75.3% to $307m from $1.24bn in the second quarter of 2022 due to reduced margins on sales of refined products and less favourable foreign exchange effects.
Chevron’s capital expenditure in the three months ending 30 September surged by 56.66% to $4.7bn YoY.
During the quarter, the company returned $6.2bn to shareholders through $2.9bn in dividends and $3.4bn worth of share repurchases.
A quarterly dividend of one $1.51 per share, payable on 11 December 2023, was declared by the company's board.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said: “We delivered another quarter of solid financial results and strong cash returns to shareholders. The acquisition of PDC Energy strengthened our position in important US production basins. We also acquired a majority stake in ACES Delta, the United States’ largest green hydrogen production and storage hub.”
Last week, Chevron signed a definitive agreement to buy oil and gas company Hess in an all-stock deal valued at $53bn.
