Bartlesville, OK-based Phillips Petroleum Co. beat analysts’forecasts and saw its fourth quarter earnings more than triple inthe fourth quarter of 2000 for the same reason its peers had recordresults: strong natural gas and oil prices.

Phillips, which has been moving toward more exploration andproduction, saw its income rise to $701 million or $2.72 a share,up from $215 million, or 84 cents a share in fourth quarter 1999.First Call/Thomas Financial analysts had estimated earnings wouldbe $2.28 a share. Revenue rose to $5.8 billion from $4.3 billion ayear earlier.

Phillips said it benefited not only from higher commodityprices, but also from higher production in its Alaskan fields thatit acquired in 2000 from Arco.

“We’ve made significant strides in our worldwide strategy toexpand our exploration and production portfolio, with a focus onlegacy assets — very large oil and gas resources that can producerevenue for many years at competitive operating costs,” said CEOJim Mulva.

Production, said Mulva, rose by 75% over the same period of19999. On a boe basis, daily production was 837,300, compared with478,800 in fourth quarter 1999.

The company has already announced plans to up its 2001 budget byabout 25%, with most going toward exploration and productionactivities, especially in Alaska. Mulva said that with a fullyear’s production from those assets, average daily worldwideproduction for the entire company would rise by about 15% over lastyear.

About the only negative in the quarterly report came fromPhillips’ chemicals operations, which have been hit by the highcosts related to buying crude oil and natural gas, which areironically, the key ingredients in its raw materials production.The operations, a venture with Chevron Corp., reported an operatingloss of $41 million, compared with income of $45 million in thefourth quarter of 1999.

“We expect the difficult market conditions to continue for thechemicals industry,” Mulva said. “We anticipate the margins willremain tight as feedstock and fuel costs stay high and asadditional capacity is added by the industry.”

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