Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Chevron Corp., the No. 2 U.S. oil company, reported on Tuesday that its fourth-quarter oil and gas production fell both in the United States and internationally, and it said it expects results in the quarter to be hurt by lower commodity prices.

The company said U.S. liquids and natural gas production fell almost 1 percent from the third quarter as planned project activity in the Gulf of Mexico continued into December.

Combined international liquids and natural gas production volumes were down 3.4 percent from the previous quarter.

Chevron said production volumes reflect the impact of a change in its service agreement with Venezuela's state oil company, which is estimated to reduce volumes by about 90,000 barrels per day.

U.S. crude realizations decreased by $11.72 per barrel, in line with the decrease in the price of West Texas Intermediate crude and California heavy crude, while international liquids realizations fell $11.05 per barrel, in line with the decrease in Brent spot prices.

Chevron said. U.S. natural gas realizations fell by 51 cents per thousand cubic feet.

Chevron said it expects fourth-quarter results to be at or above the high end of its standard forecast for net after-tax charges for corporate and other activities of between $160 million and $200 million.