Standard Oil Blames Loss on Lower Prices, Charges

Standard Oil earned $31 million in the fourth quarter of 1986 but lost $345 million for the year, mostly because of lower prices and $810 million in charges that reflected the reduced value of its assets.

The 1986 fourth-quarter results included a charge of $30 million for losses on the early retirement of debt and a $65-million charge for settling a disputed windfall profit-tax valuation with the Internal Revenue Service.

In the same period a year earlier, the company lost $771 million because of a $1.15-billion charge stemming from the cost of reorganizing the firm’s mineral business.

Standard’s fourth-quarter revenue totaled $2.3 billion, a 38% decline from $3.7 billion in 1985. The company, the nation’s 12th-largest oil concern, attributed the drop to depressed oil prices.

The 1986 loss of $345 million compares to a profit of $308 million in 1985. Revenues last year totaled $10.02 billion, down 27% from $13.81 billion the year before.