Occidental Petroleum tops quarterly profit estimates on higher output

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By Vallari Srivastava

(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit on Monday, as higher production helped the U.S. shale producer counter weaker oil prices.

U.S. oil and gas output rose to a record in August even as benchmark Brent crude fell more than 13% in the reported period on OPEC+ supply increases and slowing global demand.

Occidental, which said it benefited from its $12 billion acquisition of CrownRock in August last year, reported quarterly average global production of 1.46 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMboepd), up from 1.41 MMboepd a year earlier.

Realized oil prices fell to $64.78 per barrel in the July-September period, from $75.33 a year earlier.

Larger rivals Exxon Mobil and Chevron also beat analysts’ expectations for third-quarter profit, buoyed by higher production.

Occidental expects production to be in the range of 1.44 MMboepd to 1.48 MMboepd in the current quarter. Analysts on average were expecting production of 1.44 MMboepd during the fourth quarter, according to data compiled by LSEG.

However, shares fell marginally in extended trading after the results.

Melius Research analyst James West said the market was looking for “a bit more upside” from the fourth-quarter forecast after recent energy-stock outperformance.

Last month, Occidental sold OxyChem to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion, marking its biggest divestment yet to reduce debt after years of costly acquisitions.

The company repaid $1.3 billion of debt during the third quarter. It had long-term net debt of $20.85 billion, as of September 30.

Houston-based Occidental posted an adjusted profit of 64 cents per share for the three months ended September 30, compared with expectations of 52 cents.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Sriraj Kalluvila)