ConocoPhillips Q4 profit rebounds on high prices

US major ConocoPhillips reported Q4 2021 earnings of $2.6bn on February 3 - a dramatic turnaround from its fourth-quarter 2020 loss of $800mn.

The improvement is due in part to demand recovery as well as Permian production gains, thanks to the company's acquisition of Shell's assets for $8.7bn during the quarter.

Production, excluding Libya, rose to 1.6mn barrels of oil equivalent/day in the fourth quarter, up by 423,000 boe/d from Q4 2020.

“Our strong fourth-quarter results capped a transformative year for our company as we continue to deliver on our triple mandate,” said Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips CEO.

“During 2021, we strengthened our outstanding low cost of supply portfolio. We closed and successfully integrated the Concho acquisition while exceeding our synergy targets, acquired and began to integrate the accretive Shell Permian position into our portfolio, and announced both the sale of our Indonesia assets and acquisition of an additional interest in APLNG," he said.

The company ‘s full-year 2021 adjusted earnings were $8bn, a dramatic increase from a full-year 2020 adjusted loss of $1bn.

ConocoPhillips generated a 14% return on capital employed and returned $6bn, or 38% of cash from operations to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. It expects an $8bn total return of capital to shareholders in 2022.