Refining Losses Drop Chevron's (CVX) Income 37%

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) reported Friday that its 4th quarter net income fell 37% due to losses from its refining division.

Chevron reported that its profit dropped to $3.07 billion, or $1.53 per share, down from $4.9 billion, or $2.44 per share, for the same quarter the previous year.

According FactSet Research's survey of analysts, expected earnings for Chevron were $1.66 a share.

It's been a tough quarter for those in the refining business. Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), the largest independent refiner cut its dividend by two thirds after reporting losses of $1.4 billion.

A bright spot for Chevron was its oil exploration and production business. Chevron raised its net oil equivalent production by over 9%.

Jut last Wednesday, Chevron announced that it would begin to develop the Brazilian Papa Terra offshore field, with Brazilian state oil company Petrobras (NYSE: PBR).

Chevron and Petrobras plan to invest a combined $5.2 billion in the project, with the first oil expected by 2013.