EOG’s profit rises; dividend to go up

EOG Resources increased its shareholder dividends after growing its profits during the third quarter as the recovering economy lifted oil prices.

The Houston independent oil company said Thursday that it made $1.1 billion during the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with earnings of $907 million during the second quarter and a loss of $42 million a year earlier. Revenues more than doubled to $4.8 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier.

EOG raised its regular dividend for the second time this year to $3 a share, an increase of 82 percent and double the dividend from last year. The company also declared a special dividend of $2 a share. Oil companies have promised to return more capital to shareholders in an effort to woo back investment to the sector after years of lackluster profits punctuated by two oil busts in five years. The impact of climate change on the oil and gas business has also made investors wary.

“(The dividend increases) should ... be taken as a signal of our confidence that we can continue improving in the future,” EOG CEO Ezra Yacob said. “EOG has never been in better shape.”

EOG’s banner earnings are another sign of the industry’s recovery from the worst oil bust in decades caused by the global pandemic, which forced companies to slash spending and lay off thousands of employees.

EOG, which did not have mass layoffs last year, has benefited from higher oil prices as coronavirus vaccines have allowed economies to reopen and crude demand to recover. At the same time, the company has become more efficient with its production and lowered operating costs.