Noble Energy posts smaller-than-expected loss as costs fall

Noble Energy says its net volumes rose 12 per cent in the three months ending Sept. 30, while lease operating expenses were down, on average, by 14 per cent. KUNC.com photo.

Noble Energy operating expenses down 9.8 per cent in Q3

Nov 1 (Reuters) – Oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc posted a much smaller-than-expected loss in the third quarter as lower expenses helped offset the impact of weak oil prices.

Noble, which said in May it expects to spend less the $1.5 billion it had budgeted for the year, said total operating expenses fell 9.8 per cent to $1.16 billion in the quarter.

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The company’s sales volumes rose 12 per cent in the three months ended Sept. 30, while lease operating expenses fell 14 per cent to average $3.37 per barrel of oil equivalent.

The net loss attributable to Noble narrowed to $144 million, or 33 cents per share, in the quarter, from $283 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Noble’s loss was 7 cents per share.

Analysts on average were expecting a loss of 23 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Noble’s total revenue rose 11.1 per cent to $910 million, but fell short of analysts’ expectations of $980.6 million.

Noble’s shares closed up nearly 2 per cent at $35.15 in regular trading on Tuesday. They were unchanged after the bell.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Swetha Gopinath in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)