02 February 2013, Sweetcrude, Houston – US oil giant, ExxonMobil Corpotaion, saw its net profit climb last year despite recording a drop in revenues as downstream numbers rose
Total production also dropped at the Irving, Texas-based giant which still managed to boost its capital and exploration expenditure to a record $39.8 billion.
Net profit for the 12 months to the end of December reached $44.88 billion, up from the $41.06 billion seen a year earlier.
Revenues, however, went the other way, dropping from $486.43 billion to $482.3 billion as production dropped 6% year-on-year.
The company managed to bolster the bottom line, however, by chopping total costs from $413.17 billion to $403.57 billion.
Upstream earnings sank $4.54 billion to $29.9 billion due to lower liquids realisations as well as production volume and mix effects. Earnings from US upstream operations alone dropped $1.17 billion to $3.93 billion.
“All other items, including higher operating expenses, unfavourable tax items, lower gains on asset sales and unfavourable foreign exchange effects reduced earnings by $2.1 billion,” ExxonMobil said on Friday.
Liquids production was down by 127,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 2.19 million boepd. Natural gas production produced 12.32 million cubic feet per day, down 840 million cfd.
It was a different story for the downstream segment, however, with earnings soaring $8.73 billion to $13.19 billion. This was mainly due to a Japanese divestment but refining margins were also healthier.
US downstream earnings rose $1.31 billion to $3.58 billion.
Chemicals earnings sank $485 million to $3.9 billion.
