Exxon reported a profit of US$3.35 billion for the second quarter of the year, up from US$1.7 billion a year earlier, thanks to better refining margins and higher oil prices. The latter pushed upstream earnings up to US$1.2 billion, an increase of US$890 million from a year earlier.
Profit from downstream operations rose 68 percent to US$1.4 billion. The rest of the earnings result came from the chemicals business of Exxon, marking a US$232-million decline on the year to US$985 million.
Like its peers, Exxon spent less capital in this year's second quarter than last, with capital and exploration expenditures down 24 percent from Q2 to US$3.9 billion. At the same time, the supermajor booked cash flow from operations and asset sales of US$7.1 billion. Asset sales proceeds totaled US$154 million during the period.
Production-wise, Exxon pumped 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent daily during the second quarter, down by a percent from a year earlier. Bar divestments and entitlement effects, output was up by a percent from the second quarter of 2016.
During the quarter, Exxon continued to expand its footprint in the Permian, the company said in its press release, growing its midstream operations in the Delaware Basin through partnerships.
Elsewhere, it announced several new discoveries off the coast of Guyana, the latest among them from the Payara-2 well, part of the Stabroek block, which also contains the potentially major Liza field. After the latest discovery, the gross recoverable resources in the Stabroek block are now estimated at 2.25-2.75 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
In the downstream division, Exxon said it plans to expand into the Mexican fuel market, allocating US$300 million for logistics, product inventories, and marketing activities over the next decade to grow its Mobil-branded fuel station network in the country.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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