ExxonMobil on Friday reported a 5.2% fall in fourth-quarter profit due to weak margins in its refining and chemical businesses as well as flat upstream output. Profit in the October-December quarter was $5.69 billion, falling from $6 billion in the same quarter last year. For the whole 2019, profit fell to $14.34 billion from $20.84 billion in 2018, well below the potential $25 billion that CEO Darren Woods promised in March.
Exxon’s declining profit in Q4 2019 was attributed to the weakness in chemicals and refining sectors. Exxon’s chemical business registered a $355-million loss in Q4 2019, versus a $737-million profit in the year-earlier quarter. The decline was attributed to increased feed costs and soft margins.
Exxon’s refining operations generated a profit of $898 million in the quarter, tumbling by $1,806 million from $2,704 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Exxon’s refinery throughput averaged 4.1 million bpd in the quarter, compared to 4.3 million bpd.
Exxon’s upstream operations earned $6.1 billion in Q4, surged from $3.3 billion in the same quarter last year, thanks to higher oil price realizations. Profits from the US operations decreased to $68 million from $265 million over the same period, while non-US operations increased to $6.1 billion from $3 billion.
Exxon generated cash flow of $9.4 billion in Q4, down from $9.5 billion a year ago. Norway upstream asset sales boosted Exxon’s cash flow by $3.1 billion. The company’s capital and exploration expenditure increased 8% year-on-year to $8.5 billion in Q4, mostly invested in the prolific Permian Basin. At the end of Q4 2019, cash and cash equivalents totalled $3.1 billion, while debt amounted to $46.9 billion.
