Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado on Wednesday reported a second-quarter loss of $73.8 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, citing a drop in oil prices for the second quarter in a row.
The company (NYSE: MUR) reported an adjusted loss, excluding discontinued operations and certain other items, of $83.1 million, or 48 cents per diluted share. That was a $244.8 million drop compared to last year’s second-quarter adjusted earnings.
Murphy Oil noted that its earnings were “greatly impacted by the drop in WTI and Brent oil prices by 44 percent between the comparative quarterly periods.”
President and CEO Roger W. Jenkins said in a statement that the company was streamlining its portfolio with the sale of its downstream assets in the United Kingdom and noted that the company’s gas discovery at Permai in Block H Malaysia “will reduce complexity and development costs in our floating LNG project.”
“We remain focused on organizational efficiency, capital allocation and reducing operating expenses,” Jenkins said. “We addressed general and administrative costs by reducing our workforce by 7 percent. Murphy remains well-positioned financially to carry out our plans and evaluate opportunities to improve our business going forward.”
Murphy Oil reported net income of $129.4 million, or 72 cents per diluted share, during the second quarter last year.
During the first quarter of this year, the company reported a net loss of $14.4 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, citing a drop in oil prices in that quarter as well, compared to the previous year.
Murphy Oil will hold a conference call at noon Thursday to discuss the earnings report.