Chevron Drops After Surprise Loss, Dividend Disappointment
- U.S. refining input plunged 17% during 2020’s fourth quarter
- Rising oil prices seen lifting explorers but debt remains high
Low crude prices and $338 million in losses from Chevron’s global network of refineries wiped out most of the gains from harvesting oil and gas during the quarter.
Photographer: Kyle Grillot/BloombergChevron Corp. slumped after posting a surprise loss and failing to increase its dividend, signaling that the aftermath of 2020’s pandemic-driven petroleum demand crash will linger for the world’s biggest oil companies for some time to come.
The California oil titan lost a penny per share during the fourth quarter, compared with the Bloomberg Consensus for a 7-cent profit due to a weak performance from its refineries, where runs were reduced substantially in response to lower demand for jet fuel, diesel and gasoline. Analysts expressed disappointment that the company failed to raise its first-quarter dividend despite having lower debt than peers.