ConocoPhillips Trims CapEx After Quarterly Loss

 

Conoco and its peers had mapped out ambitious capital spending programs for 2017 early in the year, expecting oil prices to be higher than where they are today, just under $50 per barrel.

 

But Conoco became the latest this week to cut its spending plans, after Hess Corp, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and others.

 

"This is the right approach for value creation in the upstream sector, especially at a time of uncertainty in the commodity markets," Conoco Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said in a statement.

 

Conoco now plans to spend $4.8 billion this year, down from a prior estimate of $5 billion. The cut came after Conoco reported its quarterly loss more than tripled despite recent asset sales.

 

Shares of the Houston-based company rose 1.6 percent to $44.38 in morning trading as oil prices traded slightly down .

 

Conoco has aggressively moved to sell assets and cull debt in the past year, steps praised by Wall Street. The company repaid $3 billion in debt during the quarter and expects to pay off $2.4 billion by the end of the year, which would bring its debt load under $20 billion.

 

Conoco's net loss widened to $3.4 billion, or $2.78 per share, in the quarter, from $1.1 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

 

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 14 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected a loss of 2 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

 

The results reflect a "solid quarter" for Conoco, Simmons & Co analysts Guy Baber said in a note to clients.

 

Production fell 8 percent to 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

 

Conoco last month sold assets in the Barnett shale of Texas for about $305 million, part of a plan to shed its exposure to natural gas.

 

Conoco also sold its Canadian oil sands and natural gas assets in March to Cenovus Energy Inc in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $13.3 billion. The price was widely seen as high, a boon for Conoco.