Production of crude and natural gas misses analysts’ estimates Company’s U.S. wells lost $212 million during the quarter Chevron Corp. posted its first profit in a year as a recovery in energy prices halted a string of writedowns that have depressed the oil explorer’s results since late 2015. The company’s third-quarter per-share profit of 68 cents exceeded the expectations of all 21 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Even as Chevron’s U.S. wells lost money, earnings from the company’s overseas oil and natural gas production edged higher. Chevron extended its 29-year streak of annual dividend increases earlier this week, a move some observers took as an optimistic signal for a profit recovery. Chevron’s trajectory diverged from that of its bigger U.S. rival, Exxon Mobil Corp., which warned on Friday that it may be facing the biggest reserves revision in its history. Exxon’s profit tumbled for an eighth-consecutive quarter and production […]