Occidental reports quarterly profit beat on strong output, natural gas prices

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(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong production and favorable commodity prices.

Benchmark Brent crude prices averaged $74.98 a barrel during the first quarter, up 1.3% sequentially, while U.S. natural gas prices have been on an upward trajectory over the past few quarters and touched a two-year high on March 10.

Average domestic realized price for total natural gas production rose to $2.42 per thousand cubic feet, a 50% jump from last year. The company’s realized price for natural gas liquids (NGL) was $25.94 per barrel, roughly a 17% year-over-year increase.

Meanwhile, average realized price for oil fell from last year, but increased 2% from the preceding quarter.

Production rose nearly 19% to 1.39 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMboepd) from the previous year, helped by higher output in the Rockies and in what the company called the Gulf of America.

The company said it has made $2.3 billion of debt repayments year-to-date, supported by divestitures it undertook in the quarter. The company saw its debt balloon after closing the acquisition of privately-held CrownRock last year.

“We continue to rapidly advance towards our debt reduction goals, and we believe our deep, diverse portfolio of high-quality assets positions us for success in any market environment,” CEO Vicki Hollub said in a statement.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 87 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 77 cents a share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)