Chevron oil and gas output falls in second quarter

Second largest US oil company, Chevron Corp., has announced that its oil and gas production has declined in the last quarter, largely due to various shutdowns and maintenance work in Kazakhstan, Australia and Nigeria.

Refining operations had improved over the previous quarter, with the completion of major maintenance at two large US refineries, however output from Chevron oil and gas wells accounts for approximately 90% of the business.

Globally, the company produced the oil equivalent of 2.57 million bpd in the first two months of the quarter, down approximately 80 000 bpd from the first quarter and far short of full year average production rates of 2.65 million bpd for 2013.

In its interim update for the second quarter, Chevron has outlined that the average production rates for its US oil and gas wells fell to 659 000 bpd in April and May, from an average of 664 000 bpd for the entire quarter.

The company’s domestic refining operations have been hard hit by the shutdown of its Richmond, California facility, after a fire last August. The unit returned to operation in late April.

US refinery input averaged 759 000 bpd in April and May, up from 756 000 in the first quarter. In the second quarter of 2012, prior to the Richmond facility fire, input was 928 000 bpd.

Chevron has not given any indication of how quarterly earnings were expected to change in future.

Edited from various sources by Emma McAleavey.

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