ExxonMobil earnings increase 57 percent to $6.2 billion in third quarter of 2018

• Cash flow from operating activities of $11.1 billion highest since the third quarter of 2014
• Ninth discovery offshore Guyana, newly acquired acreage in Brazil enhance Upstream opportunities
• Integration advantages further enhanced by midstream connectivity to Permian and Western Canada

Cash flow from operations and asset sales was $12.6 billion, including proceeds associated with asset sales of $1.5 billion. During the quarter, the company distributed $3.5 billion in dividends to shareholders. Capital and exploration expenditures were $6.6 billion, up 10 percent from the prior year.

Oil-equivalent production was 3.8 million barrels per day, down 2 percent from the third quarter of 2017. Excluding entitlement effects and divestments, liquids production increased 6 percent, as growth in North America more than offset decline and higher downtime. Natural gas volumes decreased 4 percent, excluding entitlement effects and divestments, largely due to a continuing near-term shift in U.S. unconventional development from dry gas to liquids.

“We are seeing the benefits of integration as we capture value from advantaged feedstock from the Permian and Western Canada for our North American refineries,” said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. “The logistical network we’ve established provides reliable connectivity between Upstream production and manufacturing facilities. Operational performance improved significantly versus the second quarter with lower levels of scheduled maintenance and reliability levels in line with our expectations.”

“We’re pleased with the increase in production from the second quarter of 2018 recognizing it reflects contributions from just one of our key growth areas, the Permian,” Woods said. “We expect to continue to increase volumes over time as we ramp up activity in the Permian and new projects start up.”

Third Quarter 2018 Business Highlights

Upstream

• Crude and natural gas prices strengthened in the third quarter.
• Permian unconventional production experienced strong growth in the third quarter, with a ramp-up to 38 rigs currently in the Midland and Delaware basins.
• Third quarter production strengthened with improved reliability and lower scheduled maintenance. Syncrude operations in Canada were impacted by a power supply disruption that began in late June with recovery by the middle of September. Also in Canada, Kearl net production reached a quarterly record of 230,000 barrels per day.

Downstream

• Industry fuels margins strengthened during the quarter in North America and Europe supported by widening crude differentials in North America and tightening supply in Europe. The company leveraged its midstream logistics capacity to connect advantaged crudes from the Permian and Western Canada to its refineries and customers.
• Overall lower planned maintenance and improved reliability contributed to strong earnings in the quarter.

Chemical

• Significant turnaround activities commenced at the Singapore chemical plant in the third quarter and are progressing as scheduled.

Strengthening the Portfolio

• ExxonMobil made its ninth discovery offshore Guyana at the Hammerhead-1 well, marking its fifth discovery on the Stabroek Block in the past year. Hammerhead-1 encountered approximately 197 feet (60 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
• ExxonMobil increased its holdings in Brazil’s pre-salt basins after it won the Titã exploration block with co-venturer Qatar Petroleum during Brazil’s fifth pre-salt bid round. The awarded block added more than 71,500 net acres to the ExxonMobil portfolio, expanding its total position in the country to approximately 2.3 million net acres. ExxonMobil will be the operator and own a 64 percent equity interest in the block.
• ExxonMobil completed the sale of about 1,000 Esso-branded service stations in Germany to EG Group Ltd. on Oct. 1, 2018. The company is converting its retail business to the branded wholesaler model consistent with other markets in Europe and North America, and will continue selling ExxonMobil-supplied SynergyTM fuels and Mobil-branded lubricants at Esso stations throughout the country.
• Production started at the Kaombo project, an offshore development on Angola Block 32, where ExxonMobil has a 15 percent interest. Production will reach an estimated 230,000 barrels per day at its peak, and the associated gas will be delivered to the Angola LNG plant in Soyo.

Investing for Growth

• ExxonMobil started a new 1.5 million-metric-ton-per-year ethane cracker at its integrated Baytown, Texas chemical and refining complex. The new cracker, part of ExxonMobil’s Growing the Gulf initiative, provides ethylene feedstock to new performance polyethylene lines at the company’s Mont Belvieu plastics plant, which began production in the fall of 2017. The Mont Belvieu plant is one of the largest polyethylene plants in the world, with manufacturing capacity of about 1.3 million metric tons per year.
• ExxonMobil signed a cooperation framework agreement with the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government in China to advance discussions concerning the proposed construction of a chemical complex in the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park. The new facility would help meet expected demand growth for chemical products in China. The multibillion-dollar project, which remains subject to a final investment decision, would include a 1.2 million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene flexible feed steam cracker, two performance polyethylene lines and two differentiated performance polypropylene lines. Startup is planned for 2023.
• The framework agreement also confirms Guangdong Province’s support in progressing the Huizhou LNG receiving terminal, in which ExxonMobil intends to participate, including supply of LNG.

Advancing Innovative Technologies and Products

• ExxonMobil started a new unit at its integrated Beaumont, Texas facility, increasing production of ultra-low sulfur fuels by about 45,000 barrels per day. The new unit relies on a proprietary catalyst system developed by ExxonMobil to remove sulfur and meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specifications while minimizing octane loss.
• ExxonMobil joined the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a voluntary initiative representing 13 of the world’s largest oil and gas producers working collaboratively toward solutions to mitigate the risks of climate change. As part of the initiative, ExxonMobil will expand its investment in research and development of long-term solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pursue lower-emission technologies. Since 2000, ExxonMobil has spent more than $9 billion on lower-emission energy solutions such as cogeneration, flare reduction, energy efficiency, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and other technologies.
• Startup has commenced on a project to expand ExxonMobil’s specialty elastomers plant in Newport, Wales. When completed, the expansion will increase the company’s global capacity to manufacture Santoprene™ thermoplastic vulcanizate, high-performance elastomers used for automotive, industrial and consumer applications, by 25 percent.

First Nine Months 2018 Financial Updates

During the first nine months of 2018, Exxon Mobil Corporation purchased 5 million shares of its common stock for the treasury at a gross cost of $425 million. These shares were acquired to offset dilution in conjunction with the company’s benefit plans and programs. The corporation will continue to acquire shares to offset dilution in conjunction with its benefit plans and programs, but does not currently plan on making purchases to reduce shares outstanding.

ExxonMobil will discuss financial and operating results and other matters during a webcast at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on November 2, 2018. To listen to the event or access an archived replay, please visit www.exxonmobil.com.

Cautionary Statement

Outlooks, projections, goals, targets, descriptions of business plans and objectives, and other statements of future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including project plans, capacities, and timing; resource recoveries; earnings, margins and volume growth and mix; and maintenance activities could differ materially due to a number of factors. These include changes in supply and demand for oil, gas, and petrochemicals or other market conditions affecting the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries; reservoir performance; timely completion of new projects; the impact of fiscal and commercial terms and the outcome of commercial negotiations; changes in law, taxes, or government regulation and timely granting of governmental permits; war and other political or security disturbances; the actions of competitors; the capture of efficiencies between business lines; unforeseen technical or operating difficulties; unexpected technological developments; general economic conditions including the occurrence and duration of economic recessions; the results of research programs; and other factors discussed under the heading Factors Affecting Future Results on the Investors page of our website at www.exxonmobil.com and in Item 1A of ExxonMobil’s 2017 Form 10-K. We assume no duty to update these statements as of any future date.

Forward-looking statements in this release regarding future earnings refer to plans outlined at ExxonMobil’s Analysts’ Meeting held on March 7, 2018. The growth figures presented at that meeting are not forecasts of actual future results but were intended to help quantify future potential and goals of management plans and initiatives. See the complete March 7, 2018 presentation available in archive form (including the Cautionary Statement and Supplemental Information included with that presentation) on the Investors page of our website at www.exxonmobil.com for more detailed information. That material includes a description of the assumptions underlying these potential growth estimates including a flat real oil price of $60 per barrel, downstream and chemical margins consistent with 2017 levels, and future gas prices consistent with our internal company plans, as well as a reconciliation of adjusted 2017 earnings used as a baseline.

Frequently Used Terms and Non-GAAP Measures

This press release includes cash flow from operations and asset sales. Because of the regular nature of our asset management and divestment program, we believe it is useful for investors to consider proceeds associated with the sales of subsidiaries, property, plant and equipment, and sales and returns of investments together with cash provided by operating activities when evaluating cash available for investment in the business and financing activities. A reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities is shown for 2018 period on page 7 and for 2018 and 2017 periods in Attachment V.

This press release also includes total taxes including sales-based taxes. This is a broader indicator of the total tax burden on the corporation’s products and earnings, including certain sales and value-added taxes imposed on and concurrent with revenue-producing transactions with customers and collected on behalf of governmental authorities (“sales-based taxes”). It combines “Income taxes” and “Total other taxes and duties” with sales-based taxes, which are reported net in the income statement. We believe it is useful for the corporation and its investors to understand the total tax burden imposed on the corporation’s products and earnings. A reconciliation to total taxes is shown as part of the Estimated Key Financial and Operating Data in Attachment I.

References to the resource base and other quantities of oil, natural gas or condensate may include amounts that are not yet classified as “proved reserves” under SEC definitions, but which we believe will likely be moved into the “proved reserves” category and produced in the future. The term “project” as used in this release can refer to a variety of different activities and does not necessarily have the same meaning as in any government payment transparency reports. Further information on ExxonMobil’s frequently used financial and operating measures and other terms including “Cash flow from operations and asset sales”, and “Total taxes including sales-based taxes” is contained under the heading “Frequently Used Terms” available through the “Investors” section of our website at exxonmobil.com .

Reference to Earnings

References to corporate earnings mean net income attributable to ExxonMobil (U.S. GAAP) from the consolidated income statement. Unless otherwise indicated, references to earnings, Upstream, Downstream, Chemical and Corporate and financing segment earnings, and earnings per share are ExxonMobil’s share after excluding amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests.

Synergy and Santoprene are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Exxon Mobil Corporation has numerous affiliates, many with names that include ExxonMobil, Exxon, Mobil, Esso, and XTO. For convenience and simplicity, those terms and terms such as corporation, company, our, we, and its are sometimes used as abbreviated references to specific affiliates or affiliate groups. Similarly, ExxonMobil has business relationships with thousands of customers, suppliers, governments, and others. For convenience and simplicity, words such as venture, joint venture, partnership, co-venturer, and partner are used to indicate business and other relationships involving common activities and interests, and those words may not indicate precise legal relationships.

Public company information: NYSE:XOM

Contact: ExxonMobil Media Relations, +1 972-940-6007