Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) booked slightly higher earnings for the first quarter than analysts had expected, thanks to higher oil and gas production that offset part of the weaker refined product margins and low natural gas prices.Chevronreportedon Friday earnings of $5.5 billion, or $2.97 per share, for the first quarter of 2024, down from $6.6 billion, or $3.46 per share, for the first quarter last year.Analysts had expected earnings per shareof $2.92for January to March 2024.The annual drop in Q1 earnings was primarily due to lower margins on refined product sales and lower natural gas realizations, partly offset by higher upstream sales volumes in the U.S., said the supermajor, which reported a 406,000-barrels-per-day rise in net oil-equivalent production in the United States, due to the acquisition of PDC and higher production in the Permian and DJ Basins.Chevron’s worldwide production was up 12% from a year ago, primarily due to the acquisition of PDC, strong operational performance in the Permian and DJ Basins in the U.S., and the Tengizchevroil affiliate in Kazakhstan.Chevron is vying additional large jump in production with the proposed acquisition of Hess Corporation in a $53-billion all-stock deal.Yesterday, Hess (NYSE: HES) reportedmuch higher-than-expectednet income for the first quarter of 2024 amid soaring oil and gas output.Hess’s oil and gas net production jumped to 476,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up by 27% from 374,000 boepd in the first quarter of 2023. Production in the Bakken increased by 17% to 190,000 boepd, while net production in Guyana soared by 70% to 190,000 bopd.The Chevron-Hess tie-up is not a done deal yet.The other U.S. supermajor, Exxon, claims it has the right to first refusal to acquire Hess’s stake in the Stabroek block, from which Exxon and its current partners pump more than 500,000 bpd of crude from several projects.ADVERTISEMENTLast month, ExxonMobil and CNOOCmerged their arbitration claimsagainst Chevron’s takeover of Hess’s stake in the most prolific oil block offshore Guyana.Earlier this month, Hess said that Chevron’s acquisitioncould be delayed until next yeardue to Exxon’s arbitration case.By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Join the discussion Back to homepage