ByCharles Kennedy– Jan 31, 2025, 8:30 AM CST
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) booked consensus-beating earnings for the fourth quarter on the back of record Permian and Guyana production despite a widely expected profit decline amid lower commodity prices and weaker refining margins.
Exxon on Friday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $7.6 billion, or $1.72 per share assuming dilution. This was down compared to $8.6 billion earnings for the third quarter, but higher than the $1.55 earnings per share expected by the analyst consensus in The Wall Street Journal.
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Net production in the fourth quarter was 4.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, an increase of 20,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day versus the prior quarter.
Upstream earnings at Exxon rose by $340 million from the third quarter to $6.5 billion in Q4, driven by record production in Guyana and the Permian, stronger natural gas prices, and favorable tax impacts, partly offset by lower crude realizations.
However, earnings in the refining and chemicals divisions slumped in Q4 from the previous quarter, pushed lower by weaker North American refining and chemicals margins.
Earlier this month, Exxon flagged a weaker profit for the fourth quarter because of lower refining margins, estimating the size of the negative impact at $1.75 billion.
Exxon’s full-year 2024 earnings excluding identified items dropped to $33.464 billion from $38.572 billion for 2023, due to lower refining margins and natural gas prices.
Still, the supermajor delivered $55.0 billion in cash flow from operations last year. The strong cash flow and the earnings made 2024 Exxon’s third-best year in a decade, the company said.
Last year, Exxon boosted payouts to investors to a record high and distributed $36.0 billion to shareholders, which, the supermajor says, is more than all but five companies in the S&P 500.
“Financially, we delivered some of our highest earnings and operating cash flow in a decade. We earned returns higher than our peers and well above our cost of capital, and we distributed more cash to shareholders than all but five companies in the entire S&P 500,” said chairman and chief executive Darren Woods.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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