Despite the slide in oil prices in the second quarter, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) reported on Friday earnings that exceeded analyst estimates on the back of increased oil and gas production in the U.S. Permian shale basin and offshore Guyana.
Exxon’s earnings stood at $7.1 billion for the second quarter, or $1.64 per share, as the company achieved its highest second-quarter upstream production since the merger of Exxon and Mobil more than 25 years ago.
The Q2 earnings per share beat the analyst consensus of $1.57 EPS in the Wall Street Journal.
Exxon’s second-quarter net production was 4.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, an increase of 79,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day compared to the first quarter.
Year-to-date net production rose by 13%, or 520,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day, to 4.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day driven by the acquisition of Pioneer, partly offset by non-core asset divestments.
Exxon’s upstream earnings at $5.4 billion were down by $1.4 billion from the first quarter, due to lower crude and natural gas realizations. However, these lower realizations were partially offset by volume growth from Exxon’s key assets, which included record Permian production of 1.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, along with structural cost savings.
Despite the volatile oil and gas markets this year, Exxon affirmed the pace of its buybacks, aiming to repurchase $20 billion in shares this year.
This may alleviate concerns among analysts that the lower oil prices could jeopardize shareholder returns at Big Oil. Concerns were mostly focused on the European majors, but both Shell and TotalEnergies have reiterated the pace of their buybacks when they announced Q2 results in the past week.
In the first half of 2025, Exxon returned $18.4 billion to shareholders, including $8.6 billion of dividends and $9.8 billion of share repurchases, consistent with the company’s plan to deliver $20 billion of share repurchases this year.
“The second quarter, once again, proved the value of our strategy and competitive advantages, which continue to deliver for our shareholders no matter the market conditions or geopolitical developments,” said Darren Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive officer.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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