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Oil production increased 4%, driven by the growth of Permian, the main American shale deposit located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Natural gas production declined while Exxon stopped producing fossil fuels in the United States.
Analysts closely monitored Exxon's oil and natural gas production. The company based in Irving, Texas, has consistently reported lower hydrocarbon production in the last two years.
Profits from upstream activity, which explores and produces oil and gas, jumped 47% to $ 3.7 billion last quarter, excluding the effects of US taxes.
On Thursday, the oil company announced that it would restructure its upstream operations and consolidate its operations into three companies in order to achieve its goal of doubling operating cash flow and earnings from this point forward. 2025.
Earnings from Exxon's downstream refining and fuel sales business almost tripled to $ 2.73 billion, excluding US tax impacts.
Exxon's downstream fuel refining and sales business was also the focus of Street's radar. Heavy maintenance in the refineries weighed on the profits of the segment. Exxon warned of additional downtime as it will re-equip its facilities to treat low sulfur fuels before stricter emissions standards are applied in the shipping sector. .
On Friday, the company said that downtime and maintenance had dropped in the United States but were higher in international facilities. Executives said they expect a similar level of maintenance activity for the first quarter of 2019. Higher profit margins in the US and gains from the sale of international badets offset the effects of downtime.
Earlier in the week, Exxon announced the final decision to expand its refinery in Beaumont, Texas, to handle an increase in production from shale fields in the Permian Basin. This transaction will make the Beaumont plant the second largest in the United States after the Saudi Aramco Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.
Exxon's third industry, chemical manufacturing, also suffered from downtime. The reduction in profit margins and the investments required for the growth of the sector also weighed on the net result. The profits of the chemical unit fell 20% to $ 744 million.
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