Earnings Jump at Conoco, Occidental

Conoco spent $3.5 billion on capital expenditures, paid $2.5 billion to repurchase common stock and paid out $700 million in dividends in the recent quarter.

Shares of Conoco were recently trading 1.8% lower at $82.96.

Conoco is the first major integrated firm to report earnings for the first quarter. BP(BP Quote - Cramer on BP - Stock Picks) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A Quote - Cramer on RDS.A - Stock Picks) will report their results on Tuesday. Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks) is scheduled to reveal its results on May 1, and Chevron(CVX Quote - Cramer on CVX - Stock Picks) will issue its earnings the next day. Total(TOT Quote - Cramer on TOT - Stock Picks) will report earnings on May 5.

Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum announced that its first-quarter earnings soared 52% on increased production rates and higher commodity prices, setting a new earnings record for the company.

Occidental earned $1.85 billion, or $2.23 a share, vs. $1.2 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the same quarter of 2007. Analysts were expecting it to earn $1.98 a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Operating income from Occidental's oil and gas segment was $2.9 billion in the quarter, up from $1.8 billion last year. According to a press release, the increase was mostly due to the activation of production from the Dolphin natural gas project in Qatar, in which the company has a 24.5% working interest.

Daily oil and gas production averaged 607,000 barrels of oil equivalent compared with 560,000 BOE per day in the year-ago quarter. The company achieved a realized worldwide crude oil price of $86.75 a barrel, compared with $51.67 a barrel a year ago. Its average realized natural gas price was $8.15 per thousand cubic feet, up from $6.38 per thousand cubic feet in the first quarter of 2007.

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