U.S. shale oil producer Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Feb. 20, helped by higher crude prices, and forecast a 16% to20% rise in total production for 2018 from a year earlier.

The company estimated capex for 2018 at between $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion, higher than its 2017 guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion.

Concho posted net income of $267 million, or $1.79 per share, in the fourth-quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $125 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.

In the latest reported quarter, the company booked a benefit of $398 million as a result of U.S. tax changes.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 66 cents per share. By that measure, analysts had expected earnings of 45 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Concho’s average realized price for oil and natural gas for the quarter was $40.18 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe), compared to $34.7 per boe a year earlier.

Total production rose 28% to 19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.