Exxon Mobil Corp.’s refining profits for the second quarter reached $5.5 billion as consumers bear the brunt of higher gas prices, Bloomberg reports.
Widening refining margins added up to $4.6 billion during the quarter, and an additional $900 million from derivatives, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Meanwhile, rising oil and gas prices boosted its revenue by $3.3 billion.
US President Joe Biden singled out Exxon’s profits as he criticized oil companies, accusing it of making “more money than God” at a time when consumers are suffering.
Exxon’s exorbitant profits “are largely the result of underinvestment by many in the energy industry in recent years,” said spokesman Casey Norton. The company invested in new supplies during the pandemic despite suffering a $22 billion loss in 2020, he noted.
Exxon has the largest refining footprint of the oil majors at a time when profit margins are rising rapidly around the world due to high demand for gasoline and diesel and a shortage of facilities to produce them.
About 3 million barrels per day of refining capacity were lost as the pandemic reduced consumption, and fuel supplies have been further strained by Chinese export controls and sanctions on Russia.
High commodity prices and refining margins “will remain high for some time” and at least into the first half of next year, Citigroup analyst Alastair Syme wrote in a note.
Exxon invested nearly $120 billion in capital projects between 2017 and 2021, more than double what it earned, Norton said. “We’ve done this to meet society’s energy demands and, in fact, we’re investing more than any other American company to increase oil and gas production.”
Source: Capital
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