Oil giant’s earnings plunge expected

ConocoPhillips took a bruising punch to its second-quarter results Wednesday, but the world’s fifth-largest oil major braced Wall Street for it after pulling out of Venezuela last month.

Investors knew the company would write off the $4.5 billion value of its three Venezuelan oil projects in second-quarter results, so analysts shrugged at $310 million in earnings compared with $5.2 billion a year ago.