California Resources Corp (CRC) · Oct 13, 2026 · Earnings

CRC earnings update flags $134M hedge hit, weak oil realization

Preliminary pricing update — Oil realization $72.46/Bbl after derivatives; $134M derivative settlement loss

California Resources’ earnings update shows oil realization lagging Brent after a $134 million derivative loss, while logistics fixes remain unproven.

California Resources is an integrated California oil-and-gas and carbon-management company trying to keep production growing while improving operational efficiency and building its Carbon TerraVault carbon-storage platform. Its second-quarter plan called for 151–154 MBoe/d of third-quarter production, $285–325 million of adjusted EBITDAX, and a Brent assumption of $83.14/Bbl; the company had also flagged temporary takeaway constraints as a drag on results.

Q3 2026 preliminary metricResult
Brent index price$91.36/Bbl (Index Prices)
Oil realization before derivatives$83.42/Bbl (Realized price without derivative settlements)
Oil realization after derivatives$72.46/Bbl (Realized price with derivative settlements)
NGL realization$48.57/Bbl (Realized price with derivative settlements)
Gas realization$3.52/Mcf (Realized price with derivative settlements)
Net commodity-derivative settlement loss$134 million (Commodity derivatives disclosure)

The main new information is a sizable hedge drag, not a full earnings result. CRC estimates a $134 million cash loss from commodity-derivative settlements, including $122 million tied to commodity sales derivatives and $12 million from natural-gas purchase derivatives. That pushed oil realization down to $72.46/Bbl despite a $91.36/Bbl Brent index price, leaving realized oil about $10.68/Bbl below the company’s Q3 Brent assumption even before considering the difference between benchmark and local pricing.

The physical oil-pricing problem is smaller than the headline hedge loss, but still unresolved. Before derivative settlements, CRC realized $83.42/Bbl, only modestly below the $91.36/Bbl Brent index. The larger deterioration comes from hedges, while the company also acknowledges that the Q3 result is not a sustainable oil-realization run rate and points to commercial and logistics actions already underway. 〔0〕 That is a mitigation claim, not evidence that the fixes have already improved cash generation.

This filing cannot establish a conventional earnings beat or miss. The published Q3 consensus is roughly $1.08 of EPS and $963 million of revenue, but CRC has supplied neither earnings nor revenue here; it has only released preliminary pricing and derivative data. The update therefore complicates the quarter’s earnings setup rather than formally changing the scorecard, because the hedge loss is material but the final operating, cost, tax, and production figures are still missing.

Bottom line: CRC’s preliminary update exposes a meaningful Q3 cash-flow headwind from hedges and poor oil capture, while its logistics fix remains a promise rather than a delivered improvement. The November earnings release will determine whether production and cost performance offset that pressure.

What to watch next

Third-quarter earnings report and conference call, November 3

Original filing on SEC EDGAR

More California Resources Corp news

CRC earnings update flags $134M hedge hit, weak oil realization | CRC Stock News
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