Uche Cecil Izuora
Oil major, ExxonMobil is hoping to see its first-quarter earnings higher than in Q4 by up to $2 billion, thanks to higher oil and gas prices and rising refining margins.
Exxon’s earnings in the upstream segment could be up to $900 million higher in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, due to higher oil and gas prices and timing effects, the supermajor said in an SEC filing.
Oil prices in Q1 were lower than in the same period of 2024, but they were higher than in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The U.S. natural gas prices, on the other hand, jumped by 30 per cent in the first quarter this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, amid fast depleting U.S. inventories in the coldest winter for six years.
Exxon could see another up to $1.2 billion gain to its earnings for Q1, from its energy products division, where higher industry margins are expected to generate up to $700 million higher profits and timing effects – another up to $500 million.
Following significant declines at the end of 2024, U.S. oil refining margins recovered in the first quarter and jumped by about 20 per cent sequentially.
The results teaser “is not comprehensive of all changes between 4Q 2024 and 1Q 2025 results and is not an estimate of 1Q 2025 earnings for the Corporation,” noted Exxon, which will report first-quarter earnings before market open on May 2, 2025.
Analysts in The Wall Street Journal consensus forecast expect Exxon to book earnings per share of $1.72 for the first quarter, up from $1.67 EPS for the fourth quarter of 2024.
For Q4, Exxon booked consensus-beating earnings $7.6 billion on the back of record Permian and Guyana production despite a widely expected profit decline amid lower commodity prices and weaker refining margins.
Earnings in the refining and chemicals divisions slumped in Q4 from the previous quarter, pushed lower by weaker North American refining and chemicals margins.