Exxon Mobil second-quarter profit rises on Pioneer acquisition and surging production
Exxon Mobil recorded one of its largest second-quarter profits in a decade on record quarterly production from oil and gas fields in Guyana and the Permian basin in the U.S., and its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources.
The energy company earned $9.24 billion, or $2.14 per share, for the three months ended June 30. A year earlier it earned $7.88 billion, or $1.94 per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations, but Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were expecting earnings of $2.04 per share.
“We achieved record quarterly production from our low-cost-of-supply Permian and Guyana assets, with the highest oil production since the Exxon and Mobil merger,” Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a prepared statement on Friday. “We also achieved a record in high-value product sales, growing by 10% versus the first half of last year.”
Revenue for the Spring, Texas, company totaled $93.06 billion in the period, topping Wall Street’s forecast for revenue of $90.38 billion.
Exxon began shopping for acquisitions last year as oil prices surged.
The company announced in July 2023 that it would pay $4.9 billion for Denbury Resources, an oil and gas producer that has entered the business of capturing and storing carbon and stands to benefit from changes in U.S. climate policy.
In October Exxon topped that deal by announcing that it would buy shale operator Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion. Two months later, the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces federal antitrust law, asked for additional information from the companies about the proposed deal. The request is a step the agency takes when reviewing whether a merger could be anticompetitive under U.S. law. Pioneer disclosed the request in a filing in January. The deal received clearance from the FTC in May, but the former CEO of Pioneer, Scott Sheffield, was barred from joining the new company’s board of directors.
Elevated levels of cash for all big producers drove a massive consolidation in the energy sector. In October Chevron said it would buy Hess Corp. for $53 billion.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. rose more than 1% before the opening bell Friday.