May 8 (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips ( COP ) beat Wall
Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday and said
Chief Financial Officer Bill Bullock will retire after 39 years
with the Texas-based oil and gas producer.
The company's $22.5 billion acquisition of Marathon Oil in
November has boosted ConocoPhillips' ( COP ) presence in the Permian,
Eagle Ford and Bakken basins, and added new operations in the
Anadarko shale formation and Equatorial Guinea.
ConocoPhillips' ( COP ) production for the first quarter stood at
2.38 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 487,000 boepd
from the year-ago quarter.
The higher ouput helped offset the impact of weak oil
prices. Crude oil prices declined through the end of the first
quarter, after reaching a quarterly high of $82 a barrel in
January, due to concerns surrounding future economic growth.
The company's total average realized price per barrel was
$53.34 in the quarter, 6% lower than the realized price a year
earlier.
CEO Ryan Lance, however, said the company remained confident
of its "competitive advantage" amid the ongoing "volatile macro
environment".
On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of $2.09
per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with
analysts' average estimate of $2.06, according to data compiled
by LSEG.
The company lowered its full-year spending output forecast
and now expects it to be between $12.3 billion and $12.6 billion
compared with its previous forecast of about $12.9 billion.
Seperately, ConocoPhillips ( COP ) said Bullock will be succeeded by
Andy O'Brien. The new appointment will take effect June 1.
Bullock, who joined the company in 1986, was appointed the
finance head in 2020.
The company completed several big-ticket deals during his
tenure, including the sale of assets in Australia to Santos
Limited in 2020, the $9.7 billion acquisition of Concho
Resources in 2021, and the most recent Marathon Oil acquisition.