ConocoPhillips posts smaller Q3 loss, cuts 2016 capex forecast

ConocoPhillips raised the lower end of its full-year production estimate to 1.56 mboed. Company photo.

ConocoPhillips posts smaller loss, cuts 2016 capex forecast

Oct 27 (Reuters) – ConocoPhillips reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by lower expenses, and cut its capital budget forecast for the year.

The company also raised the lower end of its full-year production estimate to 1.56 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboed). It had previously forecast a range of 1.54-1.57 mboed.

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For the fourth-quarter, the company expected production of 1.56-1.60 mboed. The company said its forecasts exclude production from Libya.

ConocoPhillips said its total realized price fell to $29.78 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $32.87 a year earlier.

The company cut its 2016 capital budget forecast to $5.2 billion from $5.5 billion.

ConocoPhillips’ net loss fell to $1.0 billion, or 84 cents per share, in the quarter from $1.1 billion, or 87 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company lost 66 cents per share, while analysts on average had expected loss of 70 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company’s total operating costs fell about 25 per cent for the quarter.

(Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)