Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD) reported its third quarter results of 2 cents per share, well below than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents and year-earlier quarter earnings of 91 cents. Before adjusting one-time items, loss per share was 6 cents.  Despite the increased production volumes and lower production expenses, earnings were down due primarily to weak realized prices. Revenue for the quarter was $410.1 million, down nearly 32% from the year-earlier level.  Total production for the quarter averaged approximately 113 thousand barrels oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), up 2% year over year, reflecting the strong performance of Pioneer’s low-decline assets. Oil production averaged at 31.7 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up approximately 7% year over year. Natural gas liquids production slightly decreased to 18.6 MBbl/d. Natural gas production also modestly increased to 374.2 MMcf/d.  On an oil equivalent basis, average realized price was ...

Exxon Mobil (XOM) – the world’s largest publicly traded oil company – reported second quarter 2009 earnings of $0.84 per share, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02 per share. Including one-time items, earnings were $0.81 per share, compared to $2.22 per share in the year-earlier period. The steep fall in commodity prices and reduced demand for products caused a drop of nearly 64% in earnings from the year-earlier quarter. During the quarter, the company distributed a total of $7 billion to its shareholders, consisting of dividends of $2 billion and a share repurchase of $5 billion. Upstream earnings during the quarter were $3.8 billion, down approximately 62% from the year-ago quarter. Domestic upstream operations contributed roughly 21% of these earnings, while non-U.S. upstream earnings accounted for the rest. Domestic upstream earnings were $813 million (down nearly 60% year-over-year) and non-U.S. upstream earnings were $2.99 ...

PetroChina (PTR) is one of the largest producers of crude oil and natural gas in the world, with 2007 production of 838.8 million barrels of crude oil and 1,627 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of marketable natural gas. On an oil-equivalent basis, production totaled 1.1 billion oil-equivalent barrels (BOE), representing a 4.8% increase over the 2006 level.

We are maintaining our Hold recommendation on PetroChina ADRs [American Depositary Receipts] following first-half 2008 results. The impact of strong upstream volume growth was more than offset by continued downstream headwinds, reflecting rising input costs and the Chinese government's cap on fuel prices.

We believe that the company's leverage to the high-growth Chinese market will help it to sustain its upstream growth momentum. But fuel price caps and heavy taxes offset most, if not all, of the Chinese market positives, in our view.

Read the full analyst report on PTR

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