Oxy Reports Gains in Sales, Profit for Q4

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Shares in Occidental Petroleum Corp. gained 2.4 percent Tuesday after the oil company said fourth-quarter profit surged 56 percent thanks to higher oil prices and increased production.


Occidental reported fourth quarter net income of $1.45 billion ($1.74 per share), up from $930 million ($1.09) from the same period a year earlier. The results beat analysts’ expectations of $1.69 per share, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.


Revenues for the Los Angeles-based oil company also surged 37 percent to $5.52 billion, far above Wall Street’s expectations of $4.62 billion.


Occidental said in a separate statement that it was paid an average of $80.30 a barrel for oil in the fourth quarter, a 53 percent increase from a year earlier. Its domestic price for natural gas also jumped 20 percent to $6.77 per thousand cubic feet.


Shares in Occidental rose more than 2.4 percent, to $66.13 in early trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.