Between two rocks

2 May 2017 By Lauren Silva Laughlin Follow @TheRealLSL

Only asset sales kept the company’s earnings out of the red in the first quarter. The cash from such deals will help Conoco cut its high debt load but CEO Ryan Lance is still splashing out on buybacks and dividends instead of reinvesting. That well has a limited lifespan.

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ConocoPhillips on May 2 reported first-quarter net income of $800 million compared with a loss of $1.5 billion in the same quarter last year. Excluding special items including a one-off gain from selling some Canadian assets, the company lost $19 million, compared with a first-quarter 2016 adjusted loss of $1.2 billion. Production excluding Libya was up 2 percent to 1.58 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. ConocoPhillips forecast slightly lower production for the second quarter.

ConocoPhillips said on March 29 it would sell its 50 percent interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake oil-sands partnership and the majority of its western Canada Deep Basin gas assets to Cenovus Energy for $13.3 billion.

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