According to Zhongtong Finance, ExxonMobil's earnings for the third quarter may have increased by $2.1 billion due to rising oil prices and higher refining margins, but the decline in chemical profitability only partially offset this favorable impact. The company stated in a filing on Wednesday that the increase in crude oil prices resulted in a profit increase of approximately $1.1 billion in the previous quarter, while refining profits increased by approximately $1 billion. The increase in gasoline prices increased the company's earnings by approximately $400 million, but this will be offset by losses in the chemical business, which further declined from an already low level.
ExxonMobil stated that due to high oil prices and strong demand for gasoline and diesel, the oil company performed well in the third quarter; the significant increase in oil, natural gas, and fuel prices will result in its third-quarter operating profit ranging from $8.3 billion to $11.4 billion, lower than the record profit in the same period last year but higher than the second quarter. Analysts expect it to be $9.22 billion. Analyst John Royall of JPMorgan Chase stated that this guidance indicates that ExxonMobil's earnings per share will be around $2.33, which is in line with the average analyst expectations.
Recently, as global demand reached record highs, the two major energy supply countries, Saudi Arabia and Russia, have intensified efforts to curb crude oil supplies, consuming inventories at the fastest pace in years. The supply-demand gap has boosted crude oil prices, and in the case of stronger-than-expected global oil consumption, the global crude oil exporting countries Saudi Arabia and Russia have implemented voluntary production cuts of 1 million barrels per day and 300,000 barrels per day in addition to the production cuts quota implemented by OPEC+.
Last week, the international benchmark crude oil price, Brent crude oil, soared to nearly $100 per barrel. JPMorgan Chase stated in a report that the global benchmark Brent crude oil price in the third quarter was close to $97 per barrel, higher than the $72 per barrel at the end of June. Statistics show that the average price of crude oil rose by about 30% during the third quarter, which boosted ExxonMobil's oil and gas production revenue.
However, despite the strong operating profit in the third quarter, it still falls short of the same period last year, when the gas prices reached a record high after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and refining production also set a record for fuel demand. Documents submitted to the securities regulatory agency show that the operating profit of the company's oil and gas business in the third quarter is between $5.2 billion and $6.7 billion, compared to $12.4 billion in the same period last year. However, analysts estimate that after three consecutive quarters of decline, ExxonMobil's earnings in the third quarter will begin to grow, marking the longest period since the oil price crash from 2014 to 2016.
ExxonMobil will be the first oil giant to release third-quarter earnings expectations, and its performance expectations have strong similarities with competitors Chevron, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies. This may indicate that in the third quarter of soaring international oil prices, the performance of oil giants is expected to rebound.

Thanks to the rise in oil prices, ExxonMobil's third-quarter profits are expected to increase compared to the previous quarter, which is a positive sign for the performance of this oil giant in the third quarter.

Oil giant may be making a fortune again! ExxonMobil brings "good news": Q3 profits set to soar.