Exxon Mobil Corp. said in a Monday night filing that its first-quarter profit could top $9 billion, thanks in part to billions more from higher crude prices.
ExxonXOM,
estimated between $1.9 billion and $2.3 billion in fourth-quarter earnings due to changes in crude prices and up to about $400 million from changes in gas prices.
Thinner margins in its chemicals business, writedowns related to Russia’s departure and other factors will offset its otherwise optimistic outlook, the company said in the filing. The company posted a profit of $8.8 billion in the fourth quarter.
Exxon said in Monday’s filing that it intended to give investors an “outlook” on the market and other “expected factors” affecting its quarterly report, and that it was not about an estimate, as it does not incorporate fluctuations in exchange rates, any unscheduled downtime, and other impacts.
Exxon is expected to release its report at the end of the month, and the FactSet consensus calls for adjusted earnings per share of $2.17, which would compare to adjusted EPS of 65 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Monday’s news could lead to calls in the US and Europe for windfall profit drawdowns linked to the rise in crude CL00,
and gas prices and rising gasoline RB00,
prices too.
An oversight and investigation subcommittee of the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee plans to have executives from major oil companies, including Exxon, Chevron Corp. CLC,
et BP PLC BP,
témoigner lors d’une audience mercredi intitulée “Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America’s Pain at the Pump”.
According to travel and leisure company AAA, U.S. gasoline prices averaged $4.189 a gallon on Monday, 46% higher than the average of $2.873 a gallon a year ago. That’s down 3.3% from AAA’s all-time high of $4,331 on March 11.
Exxon shares have gained 45% in the past 12 months, compared to gains of around 14% for the S&P 500 SPX index,
and 53% for the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF. XLE,