US Drilling and Oil Exploration companies steal the show

Chevron reports record high profit, but disappoints investors: SAN RAMON, Calif. — Chevron said Friday its second-quarter earnings soared to a new high, but that wasn't enough to satisfy investors whose expectations have been raised by the oil industry's recent run of eye-popping profit. The company's shares tumbled 3.5%. The company said it earned $4.35 billion, or $1.97 a share, for the three months ended in June. That compared with net income of $3.68 billion, or $1.76 a share, at the same time last year. Chevron Corp. posted its best-ever quarterly profit, which rose 18 % but fell short of Wall Street estimates. Its earnings capped a round of stellar results from oil companies. Chevron lost $1.68 to $66.05. It marks the company's largest three-month profit in its 127-year history, eclipsing earnings of $4.14 billion registered in last year's final quarter after energy prices spiked in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Revenue jumped 11% to $53.5 billion, including about $1.4 billion of income from equity affiliates and other income. But Chevron's profit let down Wall Street. The average earnings estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been $2.21 a share."It was still like they were printing money. They just weren't printing as much as everybody thought," said industry analyst Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer. Chevron would have come closer to hitting analysts' target if not for a $300 million charge that decreased its earnings by 13 cents a share. The reduction stemmed from the company's uninsured costs for equipment and oil wells ravaged in by last year's hurricanes.The costs of abandoning other projects shaved another 11 cents a share from Chevron's results, spokesman Don Campbell said. What's more, some oil produced in the second quarter wasn't delivered before July, pushing another 11 cents a share of potential earnings into the third quarter, Campbell said.Chevron's profit was the smallest among the world's other major oil companies — a pecking order that underscores the industry's tremendous money-making prowess now that energy prices seem destined to remain at levels that seemed far-fetched as the 21st century began. Earlier this week, ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell reported second-quarter profits ranging between $5.18 billion and $10.36 billion. Combined with Chevron, the companies earned $34.6 billion in the second quarter, 36% more than the same period last year. Through the first half of the year, the five companies earned $62.8 billion, putting them 20% ahead of their record-setting pace last year. In July, oil prices have climbed even higher, peaking at $78.40 a barrel. Unless conditions shift dramatically, that means the third quarter probably will be even more prosperous for the oil companies than the second quarter. {With inputs from Internet} Best wishes, Suman Mukherjee India. www.sumanspeaks.blogspot.com