Chevron’s Richmond refinery in California, December 2023. Archive photo: Bastique / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
Chevron reported $9.9 billion in third-quarter earnings Friday, up from $3.5 billion a year earlier, as higher refining margins and crude oil prices lifted profits despite lower worldwide production.
The oil major also reported record crude processing at its U.S. refineries of 1.09 million barrels a day, with utilization approaching 98%, according to its October 30 earnings release.
The year-over-year gain was sharp, but profit fell from the second quarter’s $12.1 billion. The results show a company benefiting from stronger prices and refining economics without a corresponding increase in its total global oil and gas output.
Refining lifts the quarter
Reported earnings were $9.924 billion, or $5.06 a diluted share, compared with $3.539 billion, or $1.82 a share, in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings, a non-GAAP measure excluding special items and foreign currency effects, were $10.361 billion, or $5.28 a share.
Chevron’s downstream business, which includes refining and marketing, earned $4.931 billion, up from $1.137 billion a year earlier. The company attributed the broader earnings increase mainly to higher refined-product margins and higher crude oil realizations, partly offset by unfavorable timing effects in a rising-price environment.
Worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 3.980 million barrels a day, down from 4.086 million a year earlier. Chevron cited lower entitlements resulting from higher prices and disruption from the Middle East conflict. Record production at operated Australian assets, growth in the Gulf and a month of Venezuelan output under a changed accounting treatment partly offset those pressures.
Cash flow rises as debt falls
Cash flow from operations rose to $16.0 billion from $9.4 billion a year earlier. Capital spending was $4.0 billion, down from $4.4 billion. Chevron said total debt fell by another $3.5 billion during the quarter.
The board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.78 a share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record at the close of business November 18.
Chevron also said its Venezuelan joint ventures plan to invest $7 billion over five years. That is a future investment plan, not money already spent or a guaranteed production increase.
The immediate takeaway is a large year-over-year profit gain powered by prices and refining, alongside a sequential earnings decline and lower global production. The release does not establish a stock-market reaction or a change in what consumers will pay at the pump.
JBizNews Desk | HOUSTON
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