BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 2. ExxonMobil announced year-to-date earnings of $17.5 billion for the first half of 2024, down from $19.3 billion in the same period of 2023, Trend reports.
Excluding identified items, earnings were also $17.5 billion compared to $19.5 billion last year. The decrease in earnings was attributed to lower industry refining margins and natural gas prices, which normalized to within the ten-year historical range, while crude oil prices experienced a modest rise.
Despite these challenges, ExxonMobil achieved significant volume growth from its Guyana, Pioneer, and heritage Permian assets, along with high-value product outputs and the Beaumont refinery expansion. These gains more than compensated for lower base volumes resulting from the divestment of non-strategic assets and government-mandated curtailments. Structural cost savings further offset higher expenses related to scheduled maintenance, depreciation, and support for new businesses and 2025 project start-ups.
ExxonMobil reported $10.7 billion in cumulative structural cost savings since 2019, including $1.0 billion in savings during the year and $0.6 billion in the second quarter. The company remains on track to achieve cumulative savings of $5 billion by the end of 2027 compared to 2023.
The company generated strong cash flow from operations, totaling $25.2 billion, and free cash flow of $15.0 billion in the first half of the year. These figures include working capital outflows of $2.6 billion due to higher seasonal cash tax payments. Excluding working capital, cash flow from operations and free cash flow were $27.8 billion and $17.6 billion, respectively.
Year-to-date shareholder distributions amounted to $16.3 billion, consisting of $8.1 billion in dividends and $8.3 billion in share repurchases. Following the completion of the Pioneer transaction, ExxonMobil increased its annual share repurchase pace to $20 billion through 2025, contingent on favorable market conditions. The company plans to repurchase over $19 billion in shares in 2024.
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