據油價網2023年8月3日報道，美國第4大石油公司西方石油公司(Oxy)8月3日公布的第二季度收益低于分析師預期，成為受到油價下跌影響的美國主要石油生產商之一。

統計數據顯示，Oxy第二季度凈利潤為6.05億美元，其中石油和天然氣業務的稅前利潤為11億美元，而去年同期為16億美元。稅前數據受到波德河盆地資產減記的影響。Oxy表示，該公司已決定不再對這些資產進一步投資。

在報告期內，Oxy的原油實現價格下降32%，至平均每桶73.59美元。

與此同時，Oxy第二季度的油氣日產量略高于計劃，為121.8萬桶油當量。為此，Oxy將其全年油氣日產量指導上調至121萬桶油當量。

在進一步的更新中，Oxy說，它已經回購了價值約4.25億美元的普通股，使其今年迄今的股票回購總額達到計劃的30億美元的40%。Oxy還在回購優先股，今年第二季度的回購金額為5.22億美元，使今年迄今的回購總額達到優先股的12%，即12億美元。

今年早些時候，Oxy表示將利用去年利潤中的額外現金回購股票。當時，Oxy表示，如果油價保持在每桶75美元以上，它可能會加快回購計劃。

雖然Oxy一直在向包括沃倫·巴菲特在內的股東返還現金，但巴菲特一直在增持該公司的股票。6月底，伯克希爾哈撒韋公司已將其在Oxy的持股比例提高至25%以上，引發了外界對該公司可能收購Oxy的猜測，盡管巴菲特否認他有任何收購計劃。

“有人猜測我們會購買控股權，但我們不會購買控股權，”巴菲特在5月份曾表示，“我們不知道該拿它怎么辦。”

李峻 譯自 油價網

原文如下：

Occidental Petroleum Falls Short Of Quarterly Profit Expectations

Occidental Petroleum reported earnings results for the second quarter that were below analyst expectations, joining the ranks of oil producers feeling the effect of lower prices.

The net earnings came in at $605 million for the quarter, with pre-tax profits from oil and gas at $1.1 billion, versus $1.6 billion a year earlier. The pre-tax figure was affected by writedowns on assets in the Powder River Basin that Oxy said had decided not to invest in further.

During the reporting period, the company’s realized price for crude oil marked a 32% decline to an average of $73.59.

At the same time, Oxy’s production was marginally higher than planned during the second quarter, at 1.218 million barrels of oil equivalent daily. As a result, the company raised its full-year production guidance to 1.210 million barrels of oil equivalent daily.

In a further update, Occidental said it had bought back some $425 million worth of common shares, bringing its year-to-date repurchase total to 40% of the planned $3 billion. It is also buying back preferred stock, with the amount bought back in the second quarter at $522 million, bringing the year-to-date total to 12% of its preferred stock or $1.2 billion.

Earlier this year, Occidental said it would use the extra cash from its record 2022 profits to buy back stock. At the time, the company said that if oil prices remained above $75 per barrel, it could accelerate its buyback program.

While Oxy has been returning cash to shareholders—including Warren Buffett—Buffett has been buying more stock in the company. By late June, Berkshire Hathaway had boosted its holdings in the company to over 25%, fueling speculation about a possible takeover despite Buffett’s denial that he has any plans for that.

“There’s speculation about us buying control, we’re not going to buy control,” Buffett said in May. “We wouldn’t know what to do with it.”