Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss from continuing operations of $285 million, or 1.65 per diluted share of stock, and a full 2017 net loss of $311 million, or $1.81 per diluted share.
However, the global oil exploration and drilling giant fared better than expected in income from continuing operations before income taxes, netting $2 million in the fourth quarter and $72 million for the full year. The company attributed the adjusted figures to the effects of the recent corporate tax cut and other provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act approved in December. Those adjustments include the impact of the significant corporate income tax cut, a $274 million windfall, and a foreign exchange gain of $22 million.
Murphy continued to corral costs, achieving a full-year lease operating expense of $7.89 per barrel of oil equivalent and a 16 percent reduction in selling and general expenses. In the fourth quarter, selling and general expenses were down 21 percent.
Fourth-quarter revenue of $5.4 billion was up from $4.8 billion in the same quarter of 2016; it fell short of analysts’ predictions. Full-year revenue of $2.1 billion topped the company’s $1.8 billion revenue figure from 2016.
“Over the course of the year, we stabilized our production,” President and CEO Roger W. Jenkins said in a statement. “We achieved higher fourth-quarter 2017 production year over year, which was primarily driven by a 16 percent increase from our onshore business when adjusted for asset sales.”
In announcing the results, the company emphasized free cash flow from offshore assets of $120 million in the quarter, and more than $500 million for the year, as well as a $1 billion reserve of cash on balance sheet at the end of the year. Murphy also replaced 123 percent of its total reserves with a 2017 finding-and-development cost of $13.09 per barrel of oil equivalent.
“Our constant focus on cost reductions, consistent cash balance, premium price-advantaged portfolio and the ongoing financial strategy of spending within cash flow places our company in an excellent position moving forward,” Jenkins said.
The company will hold a conference call on the financial results at 11 a.m. Thursday. The dial in number is 1 (833) 832-5124. The conference number is 6498569.
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