Fourth-quarter loss at oil giant totals $2.5 billion

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The newly combined ChevronTexaco Corp. stumbled to a fourth-quarter loss of $2.5 billion as the company paid for the aftershocks of its merger and reassessed the value of its assets in the depressed energy market.

The loss, which translated into $2.36 per share, stemmed from $3 billion in charges the company absorbed to reflect a sharp drop in natural gas and oil prices, as well as the costs from the October marriage of Chevron and Texaco.

The fourth-quarter setback, announced today, contrasted with a profit of $2.04 billion, or $1.92 per share, in the prior year.

ChevronTexaco's fourth-quarter slump illustrated the drastic turnaround in energy prices. As natural gas and oil prices soared in 2000 and the first half of 2001, Chevron -- then operating without Texaco -- enjoyed the most prosperous period of its long history. But the boom ended in the fourth quarter.

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