The company, the second-largest US oil producer, in December had warned it could take up to US$11 billion in writedowns on properties that were no longer economic to produce oil and gas.

The writedowns covered Appalachian shale gas properties, a proposed Canadian liquefied natural gas project and US offshore field.

Major oil companies, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corp , have sought to raise cash and improve returns amid weaker oil and gas prices and chemicals by putting unwanted properties on the market.

Chevron shares were off 1.8% at US$109.37 in premarket trading.

Excluding one-time items, per share profit was US$1.49, slightly above Wall Street’s estimate of US$1.45.

Chevron’s quarterly loss including charges was US$6.61 billion, or US$3.51 per share, compared with a profit of US$3.73 billion, or US$1.95 per share, a year earlier.

The company also booked a gain of US$1.2 billion in the quarter on the sale of its UK Central North Sea assets.

Chevron’s net oil equivalent production was flat at 3.08 million barrels per day in the quarter, while average sales prices fell in the United States and internationally.