Chevron posted on Friday a steeper-than-expected 26 percent drop in quarterly profit as lower oil prices knocked oil and gas production earnings and its U.S. refining unit slowly recovered from a refinery fire a year ago.
Shares of the second-largest U.S. oil company slipped more than 2 percent as second-quarter oil and gas volumes weakened to a level well below Chevron's full-year target.
Achieving increased production from oil wells has been a struggle for Chevron and larger rival Exxon Mobil, which reported disappointing results on Thursday along with Royal Dutch Shell.
Chevron's second-quarter net income fell to $5.37 billion, or $2.77 per share, from $7.21 billion, or $3.66 per share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected $2.96 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Chevron produced 2.58 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 2.62 million bpd a year earlier. It is targeting 2.65 million bpd for this year, and growth of 25 percent in output by 2017.
Exploration and production earnings from outside the United States fell 10 percent to $3.87 billion, with operating expenses up and the average sale price for liquids down to $94 per barrel from $99 a year before. Oil and gas output also declined, by 42,000 bpd.
Chevron shares slipped in pre-market trading following the report. (Click here to track the market reaction to Chevron's earnings.)
(Read more: Ouch! Exxon posts big miss; Shell takes massive shale charge)