ExxonMobil sees profit rise in second quarter

U.S. oil major ExxonMobil on Friday posted its second quarter 2018 earnings of $4 billion compared with $3.4 billion a year earlier.

The company’s revenues rose to $73.5 billion in this year’s quarter from $58.1 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Cash flow from operations and asset sales was $8.1 billion, including proceeds associated with asset sales of $307 million.

Capital and exploration expenditures were $6.6 billion, up 69 percent from the prior year, reflecting key investments in Brazil, the U.S. Permian Basin and Indonesia.

Oil-equivalent production was 3.6 million barrels per day, down 7 percent from the second quarter of 2017. Excluding entitlement effects and divestments, liquids production increased as growth in the Permian and Bakken in the U.S. and Hebron in Canada more than offset decline and higher downtime driven by scheduled maintenance.

Natural gas volumes decreased 10 percent, excluding entitlement effects and divestments, largely due to a continuing shift in U.S. unconventional development from dry gas to liquids and to downtime in Qatar, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

Darren W. Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Second quarter results were primarily impacted by significant scheduled maintenance undertaken to support operational integrity. In addition, while we were pleased with the return of full production following the PNG earthquake, extended recoveries from first quarter operational incidents in the Downstream were disappointing.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff