Unlike last year, the integrated energy company is likely to hold off commenting on the sales process until deals are announced, CFO Jeff Sheets said in a conference call to discuss first-quarter earnings. “We continue to work the Wilhelmshaven refinery asset sales process,” Sheets said without elaborating. “We’ve got other things we’re investigating and working on the downstream side, but it’s too early to try to comment on those specifically,” he added. The 260,000-b/d plant in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, stopped processing feedstocks last summer.  
Sheets did offer some color on U.S. refining operations. The unplanned downtime in the first quarter that made for an earnings miss of about $50 million in Refining and Marketing occurred at the Borger and Sweeny refineries. Incidents at the plants caused portions of both refineries to be taken down, but operations have since returned to normal, he said.  
Midcontinent refining operations shone the brightest in the first quarter, accounting for — along with the Gulf Coast — about 50% of ConocoPhillips’ R&M profits, Sheets said. The East Coast refining environment “was still relatively challenging,” and the West Coast, while not surpassing first-quarter 2010 results as much as other regions, still exhibited “more strength than we have seen recently.”  
ConocoPhillips reported first-quarter earnings of $3 billion ($2.6 billion adjusted) versus $2.1 billion a year ago. Exploration & Production worldwide after-tax earnings were $2.352 billion, 29% higher year on year. R&M net income was $482 million, up from a loss of $4 million in the first quarter of 2010. Of that total, $402 million came from U.S. operations (up $12 million year on year), and $80 million was from foreign operations (compared to a loss of $16 million for the 2010 quarter).