Exxon and Chevron profits soar on surging oil and gas prices

Exxon and Chevron profits soar on surging oil and gas prices

Profits at US supermajors ExxonMobil and Chevron soared to multiyear highs in the third quarter as surging oil and gas prices buoyed their finances amid scrutiny over their clean energy strategies.

Chevron on Friday reported net income of $6.1bn, its highest quarterly profit since the first quarter of 2013 and well above Wall Street estimates for $4.1bn, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. ExxonMobil’s $6.8bn profit was its highest since late 2017.

“We had another strong quarter. Highest earnings in over eight years, highest free cash flow in the company’s history, higher even than the strongest quarters more than a decade ago when oil prices were well above $100,” Pierre Breber, Chevron’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times. “We’re a better company than we were pre-Covid.”

Crude prices have surged to more than $80 a barrel in recent months and natural gas price have hit record highs around the world. It is a dramatic reversal from last year, when a deep downturn devastated the industry’s finances.

Both companies said they remained focused on paying down debt and returning cash to shareholders rather than accelerating spending to lift output.

Officials of Joe Biden’s administration have pushed some in the industry to increase