Conoco Alaska net income $1.5 B 25% of liquids production in 2019

Steve Sutherlin

Petroleum News

Alaska contributed $1.52 billion of net income to ConocoPhillips in the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2019, down from $1.81 billion in 2018, but exceeding $1.466 billion in 2017, the company said in a recent 10K filing.

ConocoPhillips’ total net income in FY 2019 was $7.189 billion, up from $6.257 billion in 2018, and up from a 2017 net loss of $855 million.

The decrease in Alaska earnings was mainly due to lower realized crude oil prices and higher production, operating, and depreciation, depletion and amortization expenses associated with incremental volumes from acquisitions completed during 2018. Earnings were hit by the absence of a $98 million tax valuation allowance reduction, the absence of a $79 million after-tax benefit resulting from an accrual reduction due to a transportation cost ruling by FERC, and $62 million less in enhanced oil recovery credits. Partly offsetting the decreases were higher crude oil sales volumes due to acquisitions completed in 2018.

Total company production of 1,348,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day increased 5% in 2019 compared with 2018.

The increase in total average production primarily resulted from new wells online in the Lower 48; an increased interest in the Western North Slope and Greater Kuparuk Area of Alaska following acquisitions closed in 2018; and higher production in Norway, the company said.

Alaska operations contributed 25% of the company’s worldwide liquids production and less than 1% of natural gas production. Average Alaska daily net liquids production averaged 217,000 barrels per day in 2019.

The average sale price of Alaska crude oil (per barrel) was $ 64.12 in 2019, $70.86 in 2018 and $53.33 in 2017.

- STEVE SUTHERLIN