Chevron's First-Quarter Net Income Rises 36 Percent On Higher Prices

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- Chevron Corp. said Friday its first-quarter net income rose 36 percent, the latest in a string of strong earnings from the major oil companies.

Chevron sold its oil for an average price of $89 per barrel in the last quarter, compared with $71 a year ago. That led to a $1.25 billion increase in profit from exploring for and producing oil. Refining profits also improved.

Net income rose to $6.21 billion, or $3.09 per share, from $4.55 billion, or $2.27 per share a year ago. The results topped Wall Street expectations and marked Chevron's best three months since it earned $7.9 billion in the third quarter of 2008.

Gasoline prices have topped $4 per gallon in some states. As oil company profits approach levels of three years ago, when gas prices last spiked in the United States, the industry is fighting a renewed push from President Barack Obama and Democrats to end its $4 billion a year in taxpayer subsidies.

On Thursday, Exxon Mobil reported net income of almost $11 billion, its best quarter since it made $14.83 billion in the July-September period of 2008. That's the record for a publicly traded company. Also, Shell's profit rose 60 percent to about $9 billion in the first quarter. France's Total SA made about $5.8 billion, up 50 percent. ConocoPhillips' earnings rose 43 percent.

Chevron's revenue rose 25 percent to $60.34 billion in the quarter.

In early trading, Chevron shares lost 63 cents to $108.18.

Comments

[rohlb2351]

01:09 AM on 05/13/2011

It is a common ploy used by Congress and Media Hacks to quote the net profit after taxes of the Oil Industry as a dollar amount rather than as a percentage of total cost of business. They also never mention, either as a dollar amount or a percentage, the taxes you pay local, state and federal governments on every gallon of that $4 gallon of gas.

Why? Because they want you to be pissed off at the Oil Industry rather than your government. The average net profit of the Oil Industry of about 8% when the net profit of others can be 25% or more. The amount of tax collected by the federal government averages about 18.4% while local and state taxes average 9.6%.
Assuming that net profit of $6.9 Billion was the Oil Industry average of 8%, gross sales would be about $90 Billion. The 28% tax you pay to local, state and federal governments amount to about $22.5 Billion.

To simplify matters for any who are mathematically challenged, for every $4.00 gallon of gas you pump into your car the oil company earns a net profit of 32 cents while your local and state governments collect a tax of 39 cents and your federal government collects a tax of 74 cents.

Still think it's the Big, Bad Oil Company ripping you off?

[holyghostie]

07:15 AM on 05/02/2011

Mr. Lankford you can look at the oil companies stock prospectus and see that the money they spend on human capital(jobs) and equipment is paltry in relation to the amount of money they spent on executive compensation and stock buybacks.

[JPMac]

07:09 PM on 05/01/2011

For all the cry babies do some homework for a change, does anyone here at the HP have a clue what the Federal Government makes on a gallon of gas!!!??? Answer NO otherwise you would be screaming at them not the companies that PAY BILLION TO EXPORE, DRILL, PUMP, REFINE AND DELIVER THE GAS SO THIS ECONOMY CAN WORK! WHAT DOES THE GOVERNMENT DO.....NOTHING JUST TAKE THEIR CUT BECAUSE THEY CAN!!

[muck-raker]

03:37 PM on 05/01/2011

Now if only Americans could unify.....BOYCOTT BP for the whole month of MAY

when I did a search there are over 120 stations in my area...and while I was typing this I thought I will only buy from them again when hell freezes over....there I did it....never again.

[JPMac]

07:12 PM on 05/01/2011

Fill up at and Exxon station and drive off a cliff!!! What industries are aloud to make money in your mind? How do you think the oil ends up gas and in your car does it magically appear there no, it takes billions of dollars that these companies get through on no those nasty PROFITS to go and find more you a hole!!!

[bart4u]

05:28 AM on 05/01/2011

Oil companies and health insurance companies post record profits while we are all poor due to their high and unfair rates. Time to regulate these guys big time and if they don't like it then tuff beans. Then let them go out of business.

[JPMac]

07:14 PM on 05/01/2011

Yes if you would like less of something regulate it more!!! ObamaCare will result in less heath care like other countries with socialized medicine!! Look in S. America Hugo Chevez has some much regulation he took them over and they some how have gas shortages!!!

[mansterEZ]

07:37 PM on 05/01/2011

Venezuela is only a very small part of S. America. To insinuate otherwise is grossly inaccurate. Venezuela is about the size of TX & NM and S. America is apprx the size of the US including Alaska & Hawaii. If you're gonna post, it's best to not be a Breitbart that can be debunked without too much effort unless you're nothing more than that carnival barker attention HO Trump.

[H P]

09:19 PM on 04/30/2011

and this is news? gas close to $4/gallon.. and this is news??? shocked???
I bet Chevron somehow doesn't pay any or much federal income tax either..

just because their 'asset' price gasoline went up on the market.. and we all know the market is fair and reflects true supply and demand, like all economics models I studied in college...
right...
this is what happens with a monopoly.
this is what happens with an unregulated industry..

oh.. yeah lets just drill in the arctic in alaska and that will solve all our problems..
and the reality is all that oil gets put in the world market and just goes into one big pool and.. guess what.. estimates all the oil up there is like 3 months supply (not sure exact amount.. but close)..
oh and are we, the US investing in solar, wind???
hhmmm

[becky bradshaw]

09:34 AM on 04/30/2011

Chevron's Tax Summary

U.S. federal: -$19 million
U.S. state and local: $230 million
International: $7.8 billion

Reference: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1004/gallery.top_5_tax_bills/3.html

[holyghostie]

07:17 AM on 05/02/2011

So they didn't pay 19 Billion dollars in Federal taxes?

[becky bradshaw]

09:05 AM on 05/02/2011

No.

A sickly funny video with Rep. Barton defending Exxon's failure to pay taxes: http://dccc.org/blog/entry/rep._joe_barton_offers_no_apology_for_house_gop_protecting_taxpayer_subsidi/

[Gadzook Ahoy]

04:45 AM on 04/30/2011

I'd say the oil companies are doing well enough that they can stand on their own two feet. Since town hall meetings don't exist anymore, where can I go to vote for that $4 billion a year to come back to my pocket? It's obvious they don't need the legup anymore and I'd like to take what I've got and invest in shale. They'll need help shaking the EPA off their back so we can be energy independant again and then we can all get jobs finally. Or at least stop borrowing to give social benefits to illegal aliens while our poor, elderly, and sick go hungry and die waiting for social security to remember who it was invented to protect. It'd be nice to take care of our own for once.

[graffitijoe]

12:42 AM on 04/30/2011

The Government makes more money on a gallon of gas than the oil company that produces it.

[becky bradshaw]

09:27 AM on 04/30/2011

It pays for the roads.

[foxynoise]

11:05 PM on 04/29/2011

In the 70's, going virtually unnoticed, Wall Street lawyers wrote the tax laws for the Saudi's while rewriting our tax code. Saudis changed their classification of the payment for oil from a royalty to a tax. Oil companies in the U.S. then deducted dollar for dollar the new "tax" paid to the Saudi's under the Foreign Tax Credit provisions of the re-written tax code. The net result was the oil companies saved paying U.S. taxes ;reduced their expenses and increased their net while the U.S. treasury lost the revenue and the American taxpayer ended up subsidizing the Saudi's and big oil. This neat little nomenclature trick has cost the U.S. trillions of dollars. Eliminate the Foreign Tax Credit or change the provisions back to the 70's and the U.S. debt is wiped out virtually overnight.

[H P]

09:22 PM on 04/30/2011

interesting.. thanks for the info..
f&f
for some reason I am not surprised

[muck-raker]

07:34 PM on 05/01/2011

and the best kept secret the taxpayers anti up FIFTY-ONE CENTS on every gallon of gas as a subsidy to continue planting CORN and mixing this elixir into our gasoline which pollutes the air worse than gasoline...it also makes for worse gas mileage and power..you can blame Monsanto and Archer,Daniels, Midland and their high priced lobbyist bribing our legislators for the lie of the Century. Look at how much TAXES Exxon paid.
http://www.payupnow.org/

[GerryS]

08:31 PM on 04/29/2011

So, what does Donald Twump say about this?

[Janine547]

05:58 PM on 04/29/2011

So this means the government had a financial windfall off the taxes from Chevron, figuring they tax every gallon of gas about 40 to 60 cents per gallon.

[GerryS]

08:33 PM on 04/29/2011

Not so, they probably take in less $$ when prices spike, cuz people drive less.

Remember, the taxes do not go up as prices go up------

[graffitijoe]

12:44 AM on 04/30/2011

They do if they are partly based on percentage - like here in CA.

[lw1]

10:39 PM on 04/29/2011

fed tax is around 18 cents a gallon - it is used to build roads

[graffitijoe]

12:46 AM on 04/30/2011

CA state tax 44 cents @ $4 per gallon, county tax - 5 cents per gallon. All for roads, right?

[Vyvjala]

07:18 PM on 04/30/2011

roads to refineries paved with greenbacks!

[nypapajoe]

05:05 PM on 04/29/2011

Boycott all the major Oil Companies! This greed is obscene! How is it possible that these same companies are able to obtain Federal Tax breaks and Federal Substidies in the Billions of Dollars while the working people does not get any breaks both at the gasoline pumps or tax breaks! Let us have the last laugh!

[mudshark12]

03:33 PM on 04/29/2011

Sorry, I meant at the pumps!

[mudshark12]

03:32 PM on 04/29/2011

It's high time the oil companies put a stop to this greedy price grabbing robbery as the gas pumps! There is NO shortage so this latest binge is purely based on speculation. As a country America can't afford this and it is killing any hope we might have had for an economic recovery.

WHEW! I managed to say all of that without using any bad language! A few things get under my skin, this is one of them.