Unocal Profit Soars 38% in Second Period

Unocal Corp. said Monday that the sale of certain assets and an increase in domestic natural gas prices and production contributed to a 38% jump in second-quarter earnings.

Second-quarter net income for the Los Angeles-based energy resources company reached $165 million, compared to the $120 million posted for the same period a year ago.

For the first six months of 1990, net income was $242 million, compared to earnings of $207 million for the first half of 1989.

Revenue for the second quarter was $2.7 billion, down from $3 billion in the same period in 1989. Six-month revenue was $5.3 billion, down from the $5.7 billion posted for the first half of 1989.

Unocal Chairman Richard J. Stegemeier said the six-month results reflected a $132-million after-tax gain from the sale of a wholly owned Norwegian oil and gas subsidiary and a $46-million after-tax gain from various natural gas contract settlements. The results were also influenced by an increase in the price and production of domestic natural gas and a reduction in deferred income taxes and interest expenses.

On the down side, Stegemeier said the company recorded a second-quarter dip in crude oil prices, an increase in domestic oil and gas production expenses, and lower earnings from its chemical operations. The revenue decrease also was attributed to the loss of some income from Unocal’s Midwest Marketing Division, which became part of a 50-50 joint venture with Venezuela’s state oil company in December, 1989.

The second-quarter results also included gains from the sale of surplus Southern California property and the settlement of some pension obligations. During the second quarter, net daily domestic gas production averaged 812 million cubic feet, up from 784 million cubic feet in the same period a year ago.

During the second quarter, net daily domestic oil production dropped to an average of 132,000 barrels a day, versus 154,000 in the second quarter of 1989. Unocal said domestic oil production dipped because eruptions of Mt. Redoubt in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska prevented oil production and shipments during most of the second quarter.