November 05, 2024 [Oil Price]- ExxonMobil reported on Friday third-quarter earnings above expectations as its liquids production hit a 40-year high, offsetting lower oil and gas realizations and weak refining margins.

As expected, Exxon’s Q3 profit dropped from a year earlier, amid lower crude oil and natural gas prices and a weak refining sector globally. But the earnings beat the Wall Street view as production in Guyana, the Permian, and from the Pioneer assets rose.

Exxon booked earnings of $8.61 billion for the third quarter, down by 5% year-over-year. Earnings per share came in at $1.92, higher than the consensus estimate of $1.87.

The lower earnings compared to last year’s Q3 reflected declines in industry refining margins and natural gas prices from the historically high levels in 2023.

The earnings were driven by higher oil and gas production, including strong production growth from Guyana and Permian assets including Pioneer assets in the first full quarter of Pioneer integration following the merger. Exxon said it saw its highest liquids volumes in 40 years in Q3 2024.

Earnings in the energy products division, which includes refining and sales, slumped year to date to September, “due to significantly weaker industry refining margins, which declined from historically high levels as supply from industry capacity additions outpaced record global demand,” Exxon said.

“We delivered one of our strongest third quarters in a decade,” chairman and chief executive officer Darren Woods said.

The other supermajors have flagged weak refining would weigh on their Q3 earnings, but all except France’s TotalEnergies reported better-than-expected profits.

Exxon and the other U.S. oil and gas giant Chevron were helped by record-high production volumes, which offset most of the negative impact from lower oil and gas prices compared to a year ago and very weak refining margins, especially in Europe.

Chevron reported on Friday consensus-beating earnings for the third quarter, driven by a record quarterly U.S. production and Permian oil and gas output.

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