Analyzing ConocoPhillips’s 2017 Capital Expenditure Guidance

For fiscal 2017, ConocoPhillips (COP) expects capital expenditure of $5 billion, which is $200 million lower than its fiscal 2016 estimated capital expenditure of $5.2 billion.

In 2017, ConocoPhillips plans to spend more capital for its short cycle unconventional program in the Lower 48 and considerably less capital in Canada when compared with 2016.

ConocoPhillips’s fiscal 2017 capital expenditure guidance of $5 billion is slightly higher than what COP needs to keep its production flat, which we discussed in Part 5. This is why ConocoPhillips expects its fiscal 2017 production to grow slightly in the range of flat to 2%.

Other S&P 500 (SPY) upstream companies such as Southwestern Energy (SWN), Devon Energy (DVN), and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) have recently increased their fiscal 2016 capital guidance.