ExxonMobil Corporation announced its second-quarter 2024 earnings, reporting US$9.24 billion in earnings for the quarter and US$17.5 billion year-to-date, compared to US$19.3 billion in the first half of 2023.
Earnings excluding identified items were US$17.5 billion, down from US$19.5 billion last year. This decrease was attributed to lower industry refining margins and natural gas prices, despite a modest rise in crude prices.
Strong volume growth from record Guyana, Pioneer, and heritage Permian assets, high-value products, and the Beaumont refinery expansion offset lower base volumes from divestments and government-mandated curtailment, the company said.
“We delivered our second-highest 2Q earnings of the past decade as we continue to improve the fundamental earnings power of the company,” said Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. “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. We also achieved a record in high-value product sales, growing by 10% versus the first half of last year. We closed on our transformative merger with Pioneer in about half the time of similar deals. And we’re continuing to build businesses such as ProxximaTM, carbon materials, and virtually carbon-free hydrogen, with approximately 98% of CO2 removed, that will create value long into the future.”
Exxon achieved US$10.7 billion in cumulative structural cost savings since 2019, including US$1.0 billion this year and US$0.6 billion this quarter. The company is on track to deliver US$5 billion in cumulative savings by 2027 compared to 2023.
The company generated strong cash flow from operations of US$25.2 billion and free cash flow of US$15.0 billion in the first half of the year, including working capital outflows of US$2.6 billion. Excluding working capital, cash flow from operations and free cash flow were US$27.8 billion and US$17.6 billion, respectively. Year-to-date shareholder distributions totaled US$16.3 billion, with US$8.1 billion in dividends and US$8.3 billion in share repurchases. Post-Pioneer transaction, Exxon plans to repurchase over US$19 billion of shares in 2024, increasing the annual pace to US$20 billion through 2025, assuming reasonable market conditions.
The Corporation declared a third-quarter dividend of US$0.95 per share, payable on September 10, 2024, to shareholders of record on August 15, 2024. The company’s debt-to-capital ratio was 14%, and the net-debt-to-capital ratio was 6%, reflecting a year-to-date debt repayment of US$3.9 billion and a period-end cash balance of US$26.5 billion.
Exxon’s upstream year-to-date earnings were US$12.7 billion, US$1.7 billion higher than the first half of 2023. The prior-year period was negatively impacted by tax-related identified items. Excluding identified items, earnings increased US$1.5 billion due to advantaged assets volume growth from record Guyana, heritage Permian, and Pioneer production. Year-to-date net production was 4.1 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, an increase of 9%, or 352,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day.
Its second-quarter upstream earnings were US$7.1 billion, an increase of US$1.4 billion from the first quarter driven by the Pioneer acquisition, record Guyana and heritage Permian production, and structural cost savings. Higher crude realizations and divestment gains more than offset lower gas realizations. Net production in the second quarter was 4.4 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, an increase of 15%, or 574,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day compared to the prior quarter due to advantaged volume growth from Pioneer, Guyana, and heritage Permian.
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Capital and exploration expenditures were US$7.0 billion in the second quarter, including US$0.7 billion from Pioneer, totaling US$12.9 billion year-to-date. Full-year capital and exploration expenditures are expected to be approximately US$28 billion, including US$25 billion for ExxonMobil and US$3 billion for Pioneer.
