Company News

Hurricanes Don't Blow ConocoPhillips Quarter

Reports net income of $3.8 billion

HOUSTON -- ConocoPhillips has reported third-quarter net income of $3.8 billion, or $2.68 per share, compared with $2.006 billion, or $1.43 per share, for the same quarter in 2004. Total revenues were $49.7 billion, versus $34.7 billion a year ago. Income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $3.804 billion, or $2.68 per share, compared with $2.011 billion, or $1.43 per share, for the same period a year ago.

During the quarter, our U.S. Gulf Coast operations were significantly impacted by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dennis. Despite these [image-nocss] impacts, our overall operating performance for the quarter was good, and we continued to benefit from the strong commodity price environment, said Jim Mulva, chairman and CEO.

We produced 1.79 million BOE per day, including 1.52 million BOE per day from our Exploration & Production segment and an estimated 0.27 million BOE per day from our Lukoil investment segment. Worldwide refining crude oil capacity utilization rate was 95%, he added. Our financial position continues to steadily improve, and our return on capital employed remains strong and competitive. We ended the quarter with a debt-to-capital ratio of 21%. During the quarter, we generated $6.1 billion in cash from operations, spent $3.6 billion in capital projects and investments, paid $430 million in dividends, reduced debt by $516 million and repurchased $588 million of ConocoPhillips common stock.

For the first nine months of 2005, net income was $9.85 billion, or $6.94 per share, versus $5.697 billion, or $4.08 per share, for 2004. Income from continuing operations was $9.858 billion, or $6.94 per share, compared with $5.627 billion, or $4.03 per share, for the same period a year ago. Total revenues were $131.2 billion, versus $96.8 billion a year ago.

Third-quarter E&P income from continuing operations was $2.288 billion, up from $1.929 billion in the prior quarter and up from $1.42 billion in third-quarter 2004. The increase from second-quarter 2005 and third-quarter 2004 primarily was the result of higher realized crude oil and natural gas prices, partially offset by the impact of high natural gas prices on inventory positions, higher depreciation, depletion and amortization, hurricane impacts and increased production taxes driven by high commodity prices. Third-quarter results also benefited from increased crude oil sales versus the same period last year.

Third-quarter Midstream income from continuing operations was $88 million, up from $68 million in the prior quarter and up from $38 million in third-quarter 2004. Midstream income from continuing operations for the first nine months of 2005 increased to $541 million, from $135 million in 2004.

Third-quarter Refining & Marketing (R&M) income from continuing operations was $1.39 billion, up from $1.11 billion in the prior quarter and $708 million in third-quarter 2004. The increase from second-quarter 2005 and third-quarter 2004 primarily was the result of improved worldwide refining margins, partially offset by lower worldwide marketing margins. Although industry crack spreads improved significantly during the quarter, realized margins do not reflect the full benefit of stronger gasoline spot prices as the company's refining configuration yields less gasoline than assumed in the market cracks.

Also, downtime at the company's three Gulf Coast refineries due to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dennis resulted in lower U.S. refining throughput. The impact of the heavy-light crude oil differentials was similar to that of the second quarter of 2005, while energy costs increased from both the second quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2004. Worldwide marketing results declined sharply, mainly because the company's domestic wholesale and retail prices did not increase as rapidly as gasoline and diesel spot prices.

Domestically, third-quarter realized refining margins significantly improved relative to the second quarter. U.S. refineries operated at 93% of crude oil capacity as hurricane-related downtime impaired third-quarter throughputs. Before-tax turnaround costs were $53 million in the third quarter, compared with $65 million in the previous quarter. Also, realized U.S. wholesale marketing margins were significantly lower. U.S. marketing earnings were negatively affected by a $16 million impairment resulting from the discontinuation of a marketing incentive program.

R&M income from continuing operations for the first nine months of 2005 increased to $3.2 billion, compared with $1.99 billion in the first nine months of 2004. The increased earnings were driven by higher worldwide refining margins, partially offset by higher utility costs, unfavorable inventory impacts, lower worldwide marketing margins and foreign exchange losses.

Sais Mulva, Efforts to restore operations impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita continue. The company-operated Magnolia field and the Sweeny refinery have returned to normal operations. The Lake Charles refinery is expected to return to normal operations by next week. The company-operated Green Canyon and partner-operated Ursa fields remain shut-in, pending full assessment and infrastructure coming back online. The company's Alliance refinery is expected to begin partial operation in December and return to full operation in early 2006. We expect our production in the fourth quarter to increase and anticipate full-year daily BOE production to average about the same as 2004, excluding Lukoil. With respect to downstream, some turnaround activity has been rescheduled in an effort to help stabilize U.S. supply. Near-term Gulf Coast utilization rates are expected to return to pre-hurricane levels once operations are restored at the Alliance refinery. During the Alliance downtime, we will complete turnaround activity previously scheduled for 2006. Full-year turnaround costs are anticipated to be approximately $380 million.

As for the future, Mulva said, We are facing significant short-term and long-term energy challenges in the United States. Industry must work proactively with consumers and the government to find solutions. ConocoPhillips continues to pursue opportunities for increasing domestic energy supply through various liquefied natural gas projects, Canadian Oil Sands projects and projects aimed at developing Alaska and Mackenzie Delta natural gas resources. Specifically, the company and the state of Alaska recently announced an agreement in principle on base fiscal terms for a natural gas pipeline contract that progresses the development of Alaska North Slope gas. Additionally, we are advancing our plans to expand our overall refining capacity and clean fuels capabilities.

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