Unocal Profit Up 69% as Oil Soars

Unocal Corp. said Thursday that its first-quarter profit soared 69% from a year earlier as the El Segundo-based exploration and production company benefited from high oil and natural gas prices.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group also posted sharply higher income.

Unocal’s results were announced three weeks after it agreed to be purchased by ChevronTexaco Corp. for $16.4 billion in cash and stock. ChevronTexaco is scheduled to report its first-quarter performance today.

Unocal’s net income in the quarter ended March 31 jumped to $454 million, or $1.66 a share, from $269 million, or $1 a share, a year earlier. It was the highest quarterly profit in Unocal’s 115-year history and far exceeded Wall Street’s forecast of $1.37 a share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson First Call.

Unocal’s first-quarter revenue rose 16% to $2.2 billion from $1.9 billion.

Like most oil companies, Unocal reaped the benefit of oil prices that surged during the first quarter on their way to record highs in early April. Unocal said its gain also reflected a 5% increase in oil and natural gas production and lower debt-interest costs.

Unocal’s production averaged the equivalent of 429,000 barrels of oil a day in the quarter, up from 409,000 a year earlier, and mainly reflected higher output in Asia. Unocal also boosted its 2005 production forecast to more than 430,000 barrels a day from the 425,000 previously estimated.

Unocal’s developing projects in several Asian countries -- including Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh -- are a key reason ChevronTexaco wants to buy the company.

Industry leader Exxon Mobil said its first-quarter profit climbed 44% from a year earlier on a 21% increase in revenue.

Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, said earnings rose to $7.86 billion, or $1.22 a share, from $5.44 billion, or 83 cents a share, a year earlier. Wall Street had expected profit of $1.20 a share, according to Thomson First Call.

Exxon Mobil’s revenue rose to $82.1 billion from $67.6 billion.

The gains included a quarterly record $5.1 billion in earnings from exploration and production, reflecting lofty prices, Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Lee Raymond said.

Royal Dutch/Shell Group said its first-quarter profit jumped 42% from a year earlier as the high oil prices offset a decline in production.

The Anglo/Dutch energy giant said earnings rose to $6.67 billion from $4.70 billion. The profit is divided between investors of Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., based in The Hague, and London-based Shell Transport & Trading Co., which jointly own Shell’s operations. The companies have said they plan to unify their corporate structure later this year.

Shell, whose first-quarter revenue rose 26% to $72.2 billion from $57.3 billion, said costly oil and gasoline hadn’t greatly reduced consumption.

“We have seen some slowing down of the demand, but not as much as you would expect given the high oil prices,” Peter Voser, Shell’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call with analysts. “You see some of it in Europe and to a lesser extent in some parts of the United States.”

Despite the bullish results, all the oil companies’ stocks followed the stock market lower Thursday.

Unocal shares fell 59 cents to $54 and Exxon Mobil tumbled $2.38 to $56 a share. Royal Dutch Petroleum’s U.S.-traded shares lost 15 cents to $58.33 and those of Shell Transport slipped a penny to $53.61. All trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Times wire services were used in compiling this report.