ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) aims to boost returns to shareholders by nearly $1 billion this year as it booked better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024.

ConocoPhillips on Thursday reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $2.4 billion, or $1.98 per share, down from adjusted earnings of $2.9 billion, or $2.40 per share, for the same period a year earlier.

The Q4 2024 earnings per share beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.84.

The company attributed the annual decline in the Q4 adjusted earnings to lower oil prices, which more than offset higher oil and gas production.

ConocoPhillips’s total average realized price was $54.83 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in the fourth quarter of 2024, down by 6% compared to the $58.39 realized in 2023.

Production rose by 6% to 2.183 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago.

During the quarter, ConocoPhillips completed the acquisition of Marathon Oil, which was announced in the middle of 2024. The deal added high-quality, low cost of supply inventory adjacent to the company’s leading position in the U.S. shale patch, ConocoPhillips said.

Along with the Q4 and 2024 results, ConocoPhillips announced plans for its 2025 targets to return cash to shareholders.

Last year the company returned $9.1 billion to shareholders and enhanced its portfolio with the acquisition of Marathon Oil, chairman and chief executive officer Ryan Lance said.

“Looking ahead, we are focused on achieving more than $1 billion in integration-related run rate synergies by year-end, over half of which is already reflected in our announced capital guidance. We are starting the year with a $10 billion return of capital target,” Lance commented.

Going forward, ConocoPhillips guides for 2025 production of between 2.34 and 2.38 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The oil and gas producer plans capital expenditures of approximately $12.9 billion this year.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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