California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC), formerly part of Occidental Petroleum, reported a net loss of $97 million or 25 cents per share for the first quarter of 2015, compared to a profit of $223 million or 57 cents per share for the first quarter of 2014.
CRC also reported record quarterly total production of 166,000 BOE per day and record crude oil production of 108,000 barrels per day.
Todd Stevens, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We completed our first full quarter as an independent company and are strongly encouraged by our results even with the challenging commodity market.
“Following the spin-off, we responded to this rapid price decline by swiftly reducing the capital for the remainder of 2014 and cut our 2015 capital investment program to $440 million, a reduction of about 80 percent compared to 2014.”
Stevens said CRC operates only 3 rigs currently, compared to 27 in November, and has reduced its capital spending “to a level consistent with our expected cash flow for the year.”
With the current level of capital investment, he said, the company expects “we will see our 2015 average crude oil production increase over 2014 levels.”
The company reported that the adjusted net loss of $97 for the first quarter of 2015 reflected significantly lower realized oil, NGL and gas prices and higher interest expense resulting from its status as an independent company. These more than offset the positive effects of higher oil volumes and lower production costs, depreciation, depletion and amortization and exploration expenses.
Daily oil and gas production volumes averaged a record 166,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in the first quarter of 2015, compared with 154,000 BOE a year earlier. Average oil production increased by 14$ or 13,000 barrels per day, to a record 108,000 barrels per. NGL production decreased by 1,000 barrels per day, and natural gas production was unchanged at 242 million cubic feet per day.
Realized crude oil prices decreased 55% to $46.44 per barrel for the first quarter of 2015 from $102.32 per barrel a year earlier. Realized NGL prices decreased 64% to $21.55 per barrel in the first quarter of 2015 from $60.39 per barrel in the same quarter of 2014. Natural gas realized prices decreased 41% in the first quarter of 2015 to $2.84 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), compared with $4.78 per Mcf in the same quarter of 2014.
CRC’s production costs in the most recent quarter was $16.20 per barrel, compared with $18.43 per barrel a year earlier, mostly due to lower energy costs and improved well servicing efficiency.