UPDATE 4-ConocoPhillips earnings rise on soaring oil prices
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NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips (COP.N), the No. 3 U.S. oil company, posted higher fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations on record oil prices.
Still, its shares fell more than 3 percent as a recent drop in oil prices and fears of a recession weighed on the shares of the entire oil industry.
ConocoPhillips said net income rose to $4.37 billion, or $2.71 a share, from $3.2 billion, or $1.91 a share, a year earlier.
Analysts said the results included one-time items that boosted earnings by $375 million, or 23 cents a share. Excluding those items, the company earned about $2.48 a share, topping analysts' average forecast of $2.41, according to Reuters Estimates.
Oppenheimer analyst Fadel Gheit said Conoco's refining and marketing operations performed better than expected, despite profit margins that withered from near-record levels earlier in the year.
"The refining side was a lot better than we had in mind, especially in the U.S.," Gheit said. "They operated their facilities pretty well and they had no major glitches. ... It was a surprisingly strong quarter given the dismal news we've been hearing there."
ConocoPhillips was the first of the international oil majors to report its results for the quarter. BMO Capital Markets analyst Jim Byrne said the others were unlikely to repeat Conoco's surprisingly good performance in refining.
"Definitely crude oil prices are going to be the dominant story," he said.
Conoco's "downstream did better than people had expected. But talking to other refiners, I don't think that's going to be a common theme... I'm expecting some pretty disappointing earnings numbers from the integrateds on their downstream business," he said, referring to companies that produce and refine oil. Their downstream businesses refine and market their products.
Three of the biggest, international oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), and Chevron Corp (CVX.N), are scheduled to report earnings next week.
$100 OIL
Oil prices averaged more than $90 a barrel during the quarter, and nearly hit $100 due to tight supplies, geopolitical risks and the weak dollar.
Earnings at the company's exploration and production segment rose to $2.61 billion from $2.09 billion a year earlier.
Production, excluding its 20 percent stake in Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM), was 1.84 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 10 percent from last year. Continued...
