(Reuters) – U.S. shale producer Occidental Petroleum Corp on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit compared with a year-ago loss, as a recovery in demand has driven crude prices to multi-year highs from pandemic-driven historic lows last year.
Global crude prices jumped more than 50% last year, rebounding from a pandemic-driven slump in demand. They averaged $80 per barrel in the last three months of 2021, nearly doubling from a year earlier.
Occidental said its average realized oil prices during the fourth quarter were $75.39 per barrel, up about 85% from a year earlier.
The company, one of the top producers in the prolific Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico, said its average daily oil output was 1.19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), compared with 1.14 million boepd a year earlier.
It reported a net income of $1.34 billion, or $1.37 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, versus a net loss of $1.31 billion, or $1.41 per share, a year earlier.
Occidental was expected to report its results after markets close on Thursday.
It did not immediately reply to a request on the timing of earnings publication when contacted by e-mail and phone calls.
(Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
