Exxon Posts Highest Profits In Western Oil Company History

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) reported on Tuesday $55.7 billion in earnings for 2022 in a record-breaking earnings tally for any Western oil supermajor ever.

Exxon said today it generated earnings of $55.7 billion and $76.8 billion of cash flow from operating activities in 2022 “by leveraging an advantaged portfolio and delivering strong operational performance.”

High oil and gas prices were the key reasons for higher profits at Exxon, which beat its own annual earnings record of $45.2 billion from 2008 – when oil prices hit a record $142 per barrel – and posted the highest-ever annual profit by a major Western oil firm.

“While our results clearly benefited from a favorable market, the counter-cyclical investments we made before and during the pandemic provided the energy and products people needed as economies began recovering and supplies became tight,” said Darren Woods, Exxon’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“We leaned in when others leaned out.”

In the full-year financial highlights, Exxon noted that cash increased by $22.9 billion in 2022 with free cash flow of $62.1 billion.

Shareholder distributions totaled $29.8 billion, including $14.9 billion in dividends and $14.9 billion of share repurchases. Exxon also increased and extended its share buyback program with up to $35 billion of cumulative share repurchases in 2023-2024.   

Exxon’s record earnings follow Friday’s earnings release by Chevron (NYSE: CVX), which reported its highest annual profit ever as its adjusted earnings for last year more than doubled from 2021 to hit $36.5 billion on the back of higher oil and gas prices and record U.S. production.

Analysts expect ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies to report around $200 billion in combined yearly earnings thanks to the jump in oil and gas prices last year.

Shell reports earnings on February 2, and BP and TotalEnergies are due to release Q4 and full-year earnings on February 7 and February 8, respectively.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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