Chevron, a petroleum refineries company, announced a record full-year profit for as much as $36.5 billion due to the soaring price of oil. The company’s adjusted earnings have doubled for up to 36% in 2021 from its previous record profit in 2011. Chevron’s fourth-quarter earnings are as much as $7.9 billion. This is above 61% from a year earlier. However, it is less than the second quarter income which was $11.4 billion. According to Refinitiv’s analysts, the fourth quarter earnings per share of $4.09 fell short. This was from the forecast of $4.38. However, the revenue in the quarter of $56.5 billion was wider as the forecast was $2 billion last year. From 2021, the company’s full-year revenue topped 52% which was $246.3 billion.
In premarket trading Chevron’s shares plunged slightly for more than 1%. The second largest oil company, ExxonMobil announced that it was raising its dividend by 6%. This was along with a total amount of a $75 billion share repurchase plan. The decision has led to many critics from those who believe that oil companies should invest in the production of oil and gasoline. The reason is because they must increase supply and press down prices during inflation. Abdullah Hasan, the assistant press secretary, argued that the company has been working hard to raise oil production.
Chevron argued that its investments for operations soared by more than 75% since 2021. In addition, the annual US production has increased for as much as 1.2 billion barrels of oil daily. The company’s capital spending and exploration last year was $12.3 billion. This was above 43% in comparison to $8.6 billion spending in 2021. This is to note that the company’s profit comes from the rising oil prices not from oil production.
