Devon Energy Corp. reported $995 million in net earnings for the first quarter on Monday as its oil output rose to an all-time high.
The US producer’s first-quarter profit fell year-over-year from $1 billion and quarter-over-quarter from $1.2 billion, as oil and gas prices fell.
Devon produced 641,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day between January and March 2023, an increase from both a year ago and the previous quarter.
“Oil production averaged 320,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, beating midpoint guidance by 2,000 barrels per day. This record oil volume performance was driven by better-than-expected results in the diversified portfolio of company,” he said in a press release. Devon extracts hydrocarbons from the Anadarko Basin, Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Powder River Basin, and Williston Basin.
Despite starting the year with a lower profit, it increased the share buyback rate by 50 percent to $3 billion compared to the previous buyback authorized by the board.
“Year to date, Devon has repurchased 12.9 million shares at a total cost of $692 million. Since the program’s inception through the end of 2021, the company has repurchased 38.5 million shares , at a total cost of $2 billion,” he said.
With earnings of $1.53 per diluted share, Devon declared a fixed plus variable dividend of $0.72 per share, which will be paid in June. That includes $0.11 per share of the $69 million in divestment contingency payments it received during the quarter.
Devon maintained its full-year production forecast of 643,000-663,000 oil equivalent bpd and projected capital investment of $3.6-3.8 billion.
It expects well recoveries from its Exotic Cat Raider project in New Mexico’s Delaware Basin to exceed two million barrels of oil equivalent. The Delaware Basin accounted for most of Devon’s first-quarter production at 415,000 bpd of oil equivalent, up five percent year-on-year.
Devon entered the second quarter with operating cash flow of $1.7 billion.
Beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39 a share, the Oklahoma City-based company closed up 1.27 percent at $51 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
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