Chevron (NYSE: CVX) reported Q3 EPS of $2.95, $0.43 better than the analyst estimate of $2.52. Revenue for the quarter came in at $54.68 million versus the consensus estimate of $53 million.

“Despite a decline in crude oil prices, our third quarter earnings were higher than a year ago,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Overall downstream results improved, reflecting the benefits of lower feedstock costs and better refinery reliability, particularly in the U.S. We also concluded certain asset sales as part of our announced, three-year divestment program. Cash generation in the quarter was solid, and our financial strength enables us to both reward our investors through distributions and fund value-adding projects.”

“We continue to make good progress on our key development projects,” Watson added. “New production was recently achieved at the Bibiyana Expansion Project in Bangladesh. The Tubular Bells and Jack/St. Malo projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are expected to start up during the fourth quarter and important construction milestones continue to be reached on our Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia. In addition, we continue to make steady progress on the development and ramp-up of production from our shale and tight resources, particularly in the Permian. These and other major capital projects are expected to deliver significant growth in production, earnings and cash flows in the years ahead.”

Recent upstream highlights include:

• Australia – Completed construction and testing of the first LNG tank for the Gorgon Project. All 18 Gorgon and Jansz-Io wells have been successfully drilled, and completion activity is ongoing.
• Australia – Installed the offshore platform gravity-based structure for the Wheatstone Project.
• Canada – Announced the sale of a 30 percent interest in the Duvernay shale play for $1.5 billion.
• United States – Announced a significant crude oil discovery at the Guadalupe prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
• United States – Reached a final investment decision for the Stampede Project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
• United States – Drilled approximately 460 wells year-to-date in the Permian Basin and continued the horizontal pad-drilling program.
• United States – Reached an agreement to sell natural gas liquids pipeline assets in Texas and southeastern New Mexico for $800 million.

“In the downstream businesses, the completion of important reliability investments at several of our U.S. refineries is enabling us to benefit from the improved margin environment,” said Watson. “We also continue to advance our growth investments.” Construction of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s new ethane cracker and polyethylene units in Texas is progressing on-schedule and on-budget.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in third quarter 2014 under its share repurchase program.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Chevron (CVX) click here.