ConocoPhillips 1Q net income slides after spin off

ConocoPhillips said its net income decreased in the first quarter after it spun off its Phillips 66 refining unit.
ConocoPhillips spun off Phillips 66, its downstream business, during the second quarter of 2012. It said that business was responsible for about $700 million in income during the first quarter of that year. Excluding results from that business the company said its earnings were about the same as they were a year ago.
ConocoPhillips said its net income fell to $2.14 billion, or $1.73 per share, from $2.94 billion, or $2.27 per share, in the 2012 first quarter. Excluding discontinued operations the company said it earned $1.42 per share.
Total revenue fell 10 percent to $14.65 billion, from $16.08 billion the prior year.
The company is planning to dispose of its interests in business in Algeria and Nigeria businesses and the Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian sea. Those businesses were reported as discontinued operations, and that reduced ConocoPhillips' adjusted earnings by 5 cents per share. It expects $8.5 billion in proceeds from the disposal of those businesses later this year.
The company said total production slipped to 1.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 1.64 million barrels per day a year ago. Production from continuing operations slipped 2 percent to 1.56 million barrels per day. The company's prices for crude oil fell 5 percent to $105.97 per barrel and liquid natural gas prices dropped 22 percent to $42.95 per barrel.
ConocoPhillips narrowed its production guidance for the year: it now expects to produce an average of 1.49 million to 1.52 million barrels of oil equivalent per day for the year, compared to its previous guidance of 1.48 million to 1.53 million barrels per day. It expects to produce 1.44 million to 1.47 million barrels a day in the second quarter.

FG to spend N251bn on repair of three refineries

The Federal Government plans to spend N251.2bn on the repairs of three refineries. The Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke made the disclosure when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream). The minister was at the Senate with the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, and the Managing Director of Pipeline and Products Marketing Company, Mr. Haruna Momoh. They were summoned to explain the continued scarcity of Petroleum Motor Spirit and the increase in the price of the product by marketers.

Alison-Madueke said the government would be spending N251.2b on the Turn Around Maintenance of the three refineries in the country, adding that there were some adjustments in the timelines for executing the TAM. She noted that although there were plans to build new refineries, existing ones would still be maintained.

JTF destroys illegal refineries in Delta, Edo, Ondo

About 50 local refineries have been destroyed by men of Joint Task Force, Operation  Pulo Shield, Army 4 Brigade, in several raids carried out by the command in Edo, Delta and Ondo States. Also, 11 suspects were arrested in connection with sea piracy, while others were apprehended for alleged armed robbery and kidnapping in the last four weeks.

The command, in a statement by the Brigade Public Relations Officer, Captain Rosalyn Managbe, said the operations were geared towards enhancing a secured environment in the interest of national security

 Among items recovered from them were 100 Cotonou boats, 12 Tankers, 1,300 surface Geepee tanks and 350,000 drums of alleged illegally refined products, two FN riffles, one G3 riffle, one sub-machine gun, three AK 47 riffles and one pump action. Others included 575 rounds of 7.62mm special, 42 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 44 rounds of shot gun cartridge, 10 AK 47 magazines, one magazine, two FN magazines, three walkie talkies, one metal detector and one battle axe.

BP sells US refinery for $2.5 billion

British energy group BP said that it had agreed to sell its Carson refinery in California to US peer Tesoro Corporation for $2.5 billion. The sale is part of BP's previously-announced plans to sell $38 billion of assets by the end of 2013 to help pay the clean-up bill and compensation costs from the devastating 2010 US Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The troubled energy major has agreed to sell $26.5 billion of assets since the start of 2010, including the latest deal. BP said that the Carson sale would allow it to focus its investment and operations on the British group's three refineries in the northern United States. The group had announced in February 2011 that it would sell off two major US refineries -- including Carson -- as part of a restructuring to shift its focus away from the United States and to meet its compensation costs. It also intends to offload the Texas City facility which suffered a deadly 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers and sparked safety concerns across its US operations.