The Market, Energy, And Political Page, Part 5, T+68 -- October 25, 2018

Fitzsimmons: COP hits a grand slam.

• ConocoPhillips' Q3 EPS report was proof positive its strategic plan is working to perfection
• led by the company's leading Eagle Ford position, it earned over half-a-billion bucks in the Lower 48 segment
• the Alaska segment also was very strong, delivering net income of $427 million, up more than 4x yoy
• COP is one of the highest quality global E&P companies in the energy sector and is a free cash flow cow at current oil and gas prices.

Original Post

First slide below, from the COP 3Q18 presentation. 

• Adjusted earnings y-o-y --
• 3Q18: 1,595 million
• 3Q17: 198 million
• ratio: 8x
• On a per share basis, y-o-y --
• 3Q18: $1.36
• 3Q17: $0.16
• ratio: 8.5x

And yet oilprice.com says:

ConocoPhillips reported on Thursday a fourfold jump in its third-quarter earnings, easily beating analyst expectations, as higher oil prices helped the U.S. firm to book higher realized prices across all commodities. ConocoPhillips posted third-quarter earnings of US$1.9 billion, or US$1.59 per share, up from US$400 million, or US$0.34 per share, earnings for the third quarter of 2017. Adjusted earnings—excluding special items —came in at US$1.6 billion, or US$1.36 per share, jumping from adjusted earnings of US$200 million, or US$0.16 per share, in Q3 2017.

Apparently, many, many ways to report things -- "four-fold = 8x"?

COP: earnings call today. Slides here. Fourteen slides.

ISO New England: stayed well below $100 this morning. But it's going to be interesting to watch when we have first "cold snap" in Boston.

The gap widens, link here. Natural gas is up 1.43% today.

I still think the "natural gas story" could be the energy story of the year (calendar year 2018) -- the real question is whether it will be US regional, US national, regional/global, or global. US regions to watch: New England. Outside the US: British Columbia along the coast.