May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. shale producer Occidental Petroleum Corp posted a quarterly profit compared with a year-ago loss as it benefited from soaring oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Occidental shares dropped 1.5% in extended trading Tuesday.
The Houston-based company is the latest to benefit from soaring crude prices after sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine war worsened an energy supply crunch.
Occidental, one of the top producers in the prolific Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, said its average realized oil prices during the first quarter were $91.91 per barrel, up 65% from last year.
Its average daily production was 1.08 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down from 1.12 million boepd last year.
Occidental, which took on $38 billion in debt when it bought Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, said its debt fell to $25.87 billion by the end of the reported quarter, from $29.43 billion in the previous quarter.
The company's net profit came in at $4.7 billion, or $4.65 a share, in the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $346 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago.