Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) on Nov. 1 posted a wider quarterly loss than Wall Street expected due in part to a loss on hedging and a jump in exploration expenses.
Shares of the Houston-based oil and gas producer, which operates in several U.S. shale fields as well as Algeria, fell 2.4% to $48.20 in after-hours trading even as oil prices inched higher. So far this year, Anadarko's stock has lost 29% of its value.
The company posted a third-quarter net loss of $699 million, or $1.27 per share, compared with a net loss of $830 million, or $1.61 per share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time items, such as hedging losses and impairment charges, Anadarko lost 77 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected a loss of 56 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Anadarko spent $565 million on dry holes during the quarter, more than double the year-ago period. The exploration charge reflects how much the company spent trying unsuccessfully to find oil or natural gas.
Anadarko's average daily sales volumes fell 20% to 626,000 barrels of oil equivalent due in part to asset sales and U.S. hurricanes that shuttered some output during the quarter.
Production jumped 37% in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oil field, to 37,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil. Anadarko said it is on track to pump about 50,000 bbl/d in the Permian by the end of the year.
The company said last month it would spend $2.5 billion to buy back its stock, roughly 10% of its float. The deal was seen as a sign the company would focus more on shareholder returns, rather than increasing output at any cost.
"Looking to 2018, we will continue to demonstrate financial discipline as a foundational principle," Anadarko CEO Al Walker said in a Nov. 1 press release.
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