Texaco Profit Jumps 105% in First Quarter : Chevron, Phillips and Mesa Also Post Gains

Texaco Inc., the nation’s third-largest oil company, said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings rose by 105 % , compared to the same period last year. Fourth-ranked Chevron Corp said its profit jumped 81 % .

Phillips Petroleum Co. and Mesa Limited Partnership also reported higher profits.

Most of the companies said they benefited from stronger margins in refining and marketing and higher profits from chemicals production.

Texaco said it earned $242 million on $8.7 billion of revenue. That compared to $118 million on $8.5 billion in 1987 first-quarter sales.

The latest earnings included a $66-million gain on the sale of half of Texaco’s interest in an offshore Angola joint venture, the White Plains, N.Y.-based company said.

Angola Interest Cited

Chevron, which is headquartered in San Francisco, said it earned $653 million on $7.5 billion in revenue, compared to $361 million on revenue of $6.8 billion in the previous first quarter.

The recent figures benefited from a $191-million gain on the sale of part of its Angola exploration and production interest and a $20-million gain from windfall profits tax refunds. Included in the corresponding 1987 quarter were $98 million in gains from tax refunds and asset sales, Chevron said.

Phillips, based in Bartlesville, Okla., said it earned $130 million on $2.9 billion in revenue, contrasted with a loss of $32 million on $2.54 billion of revenue in the same period last year.

Mesa Limited Partnership, which concentrates on the natural gas business, said its first-quarter net rose 12.2% to $19.3 million on $95.2 million in revenue, up from last year’s $17.2 million on $99.16 million in revenue.

Mesa, of Amarillo, Texas, is controlled by T. Boone Pickens Jr.

Texaco President James W. Kinnear said its performance was helped by improved domestic refining and marketing margins and strong petrochemical results.

The company said slumping crude prices were offset by improved earnings from natural gas operations due to settlement of certain regulatory issues and higher natural gas sales prices and volumes.

Corporate and non-operating charges increased, however, to $249 million from $100 million in the 1987 first quarter, when the company recognized $73 million in non-recurring benefits relating to prior years income tax adjustments, it said.

In addition, Texaco said its latest corporate expenses rose because of “legal and related costs associated with the bankruptcy proceedings and the financing expenses incident to the company’s ultimate emergence from Chapter 11.”

Texaco emerged from Chapter 11 earlier this month in a reorganization that included a $3-billion payment to Pennzoil Co. to settle a $10.3-billion judgment held against Texaco by Pennzoil. The judgment resulted from a jury’s decision that Texaco had improperly interfered with a Pennzoil acquisition of part of Getty Oil Co.

Chevron Chairman George M. Keller said lower crude prices contributed to the company’s significant gains in refining and marketing, while its chemicals business “again turned in record profits.”

Phillips Chairman C. J. Silas credited its higher earnings to performance gains in all major business operations, lower operating costs and moderately higher petroleum prices.

About 2,500 stockholders attended the meeting at which a corporate rule was approved to make Phillips a more difficult takeover target.

A Phillips statement said the company’s domestic and foreign exploration and production operations both showed a profit during the quarter, reflecting “higher worldwide natural gas volumes and higher U.S. natural gas prices.”