ExxonMobil profits dip as it gives back almost $10 bn to investors

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ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods described the recent dip in oil prices as reflective of lofty supply in spite of 'record' demand for oil and oil products. Photo: KARIM JAAFAR / AFP/FileSource: AFP

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ExxonMobil reported a dip in third-quarter profits Friday on lower earnings from its refining business, but the results were strong enough to enable nearly $10 billion in shareholder distributions.

The big US oil company, which saw upstream oil production rise following its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, pointed to the benefits of $11.3 billion in "structural cost savings" as a driver of the results.

The oil giant returned $9.8 billion to investors in the three-month period, up from $9.5 billion in the second quarter. ExxonMobil lifted the dividend by four percent, in addition to making share repurchases.

Net profits in the third quarter were $8.6 billion, down 5.1 percent from the year-ago period.

While earnings were higher in upstream and chemical products, ExxonMobil saw a big drop in energy products results due to weakened refinery margins.

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The company pointed to record oil and natural gas output in Guyana and strong results in the Permian Basin, a shale region in Texas and New Mexico.

Crude oil prices have fallen about 15 percent since the end of the second quarter, a dynamic that Chief Executive Darren Woods said reflected a market imbalance.

"We're seeing record levels of demand for oil, record levels for demand for products coming out of refinery, petroleum products," Woods told CNBC.

"But we also see a lot of supply in the world right now, and a lot of that supply is coming out of the US, and the unconventional developments that we have here in the US, and so it's basically a supply-driven price environment right now."

At Chevron, profits came in at $4.5 billion, down 31 percent from the year-ago level.

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Chevron's earnings were also dented by lower refining margins, although it also enjoyed record oil and natural gas production from the Permian Basin.

Chevron returned $7.7 billion to shareholders during the quarter, which the company said was a record.

Shares of ExxonMobil rose 1.9 percent in pre-market trading, while Chevron gained 2.0 percent.