ConocoPhillips raises annual output outlook after upbeat quarterly profit

Conoco joined larger rivals Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Chevron Crop (CVX.N) in posting upbeat first-quarter results.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged $81.24 a barrel in the first three months of 2023, nearly 20% lower than last year but still well above levels that allow oil and gas producers to drill profitably.

Crude prices had surged to multi-year highs last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended global energy markets.

The largest U.S. independent oil company raised the midpoint of its annual production forecast range by 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). Production in 2023 is now expected to be 1.78 million to 1.80 million boepd.

The company’s first-quarter production hit a record 1.79 million boepd, an increase of 45,000 boepd from the same period a year earlier.

Higher output helped the company offset a 21% fall in the its total average realized price of $60.86 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in the January-March quarter.

For the current quarter, production is expected to be 1.77 million to 1.81 million boepd.

Excluding items, ConocoPhillips reported a profit of $2.38 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.10 per share, according to Refinitiv data.