Occidental Petroleum announces higher oil and gas prices in Q1

Occidental Petroleum, a U.S. shale company, said that the prices received by the firm for its oil and gas production in the first quarter of this year were higher than the previous three months.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged $74.98 per barrel in the first quarter of 2018, up 1.3% compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, U.S. Natural Gas prices increased 30% due to a higher demand because of a cold winter.

Exxon Mobil, the industry leader, also said that higher oil and gasoline prices as well as stronger refining margins will help boost its earnings by approximately $900 million.

Occidental shares, which had fallen by nearly 19% this year so far, closed over 11% higher on Wednesday after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would increase tariffs against China while temporarily lowering the levies imposed on most other countries.

Investors closely monitor the earnings snapshots released by shale oil producers like Exxon and Occidental to determine how well the industry will do when companies report quarterly results in a couple of weeks.

Occidental reported that its average realized price of oil production was $71.07 per barrel, compared with $69.73 per barrel it realized in the last quarter 2024.

During the quarter ending December 31, its average realized price of total natural gas production increased to $2.30 per 1,000 cubic feet (Mcf), up from $1.26 per Mcf.

According to estimates compiled LSEG, analysts expect Houston-based Texas company to report an adjusted profit per share of 72 cents for the three months ending March 31.

The producer will announce its financial results for the first quarter on May 8. Reporting by Vallari Shrivastava, Bengaluru. Editing by Alan Barona

(source: Reuters)