Occidental profit rises 46 percent

Occidental Petroleum Corp, the fourth-largest US oil company, posted a 46 percent increase in quarterly profit, topping expectations, helped by higher oil prices. The company produced 730,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, compared with a forecast last month of 711,000 to 721,000 as winter weather and turmoil in the Middle East trimmed output by 29,000 boepd.
Shares of Occidental rose 0.5 percent to $103.49 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. First-quarter net profit rose to $1.5 billion, or $1.90 per share, from $1.1 billion, or $1.31 a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned $1.96 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.80, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net sales rose 24 percent to $5.7 billion, compared with an average estimate of $5.2 billion. Benchmark US oil prices averaged $95 per barrel in the first quarter, up from $79 a year earlier and $85 in the 2010 fourth quarter.