ConocoPhillips's Q2 Earnings Rose

ConocoPhillips second-quarter operating earnings rose 13% as record crude prices propelled profits from its oil and gas production business, but sapped results at its refining business, the company said.

Those results exclude a $4.5bn charge taken in 2007 related to Venezuela’s takeover of the third-largest US oil company’s operations there.

Net income in the quarter rose to $5.44bn, or $3.50 a share, from $301mn, or 18¢ a share, last year. Excluding the charge from Venezuela, ConocoPhillips earned about $4.81bn in the year-earlier quarter.


Revenue in the quarter rose more than 50% to $71.4bn.

Operating earnings at Conoco’s exploration and production business nearly doubled to just under $4bn from $2.11bn last year.
Its refining and marketing profits dropped sharply to $664mn from $2.34bn last year.
Shares of ConocoPhillips are down about 4.5% this year, slightly outperforming the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s oil index, which has fallen about 6.9% over the same period.