Despite lower oil prices, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) booked higher-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter as quarterly production in the Permian basin and offshore Guyana set new records.
Exxon reported on Friday earnings excluding identified items of $7.3 billion for the fourth quarter, or $1.71 per share. This beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.70 per share.
Earnings were lower in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, due to lower oil prices and weak chemicals margins.
Early this month, Exxon had flagged an $800 million to $1.2 billion hit to its fourth-quarter upstream earnings compared to Q3, while lower industry margins were expected to eat up to $400 million of the earnings in the chemicals products division.
Exxon’s full-year net production reached its highest level in more than 40 years at 4.7 million oil-equivalent barrels per day. Production from the Permian, at 1.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, and Guyana, which exceeded 700,000 gross barrels per day, achieved annual records.
Net production in the fourth quarter was even higher—at 5.0 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, as Exxon’s so-called advantaged assets set new quarterly production records, including 1.8 million oil-equivalent barrels per day in the Permian and Guyana approaching 875,000 gross barrels per day.
Full-year earnings fell to $28.8 billion in 2025, down from $33.7 billion in 2024. This was the lowest annual profit for Exxon since 2021 as lower oil prices and weaker chemicals margins impacted the result.
“Weaker crude prices and chemical margins, higher depreciation, growth-related costs, and lower interest income decreased earnings” for the full-year.
Yet, these impacts were partially offset by record volumes in the Permian and Guyana, as well as structural cost savings and higher industry refining margins.
Shareholder distributions of $37.2 billion in 2025 included $17.2 billion of dividends, and $20.0 billion of share repurchases. ExxonMobil plans to repurchase another $20 billion of shares through 2026, “assuming reasonable market conditions.”
“We’re capturing more value from every barrel and molecule we produce and building growth platforms at scale – creating a long runway of profitable growth through 2030 and beyond,” ExxonMobil chairman and CEO, Darren Woods, said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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