Chevron, Exxon post record profits from oil price boom
The blockbuster results come a day after Europe-based Shell also posted record profits: The three, plus France’s TotalEnergies, earned a combined nearly $51 billion in the latest quarter, nearly double what they brought in during the same three months in 2021, according to Reuters.
The staggering results are mostly linked to the West’s efforts to punish Russia for the unprovoked attack on its neighbor by cutting energy sales. Crude oil prices, which had shrunk in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, suddenly swelled, and are now 37 percent higher than a year ago. That’s still lower than what markets commanded in June, when West Texas Intermediate crude, the US oil benchmark, rose above $120 a barrel. As of Friday, WTI stayed close to $100 a barrel.
Energy companies have boomed as the rest of Wall Street has been hammered this year. Vanguard’s Energy Index Fund, an exchange-traded fund that includes oil majors, is up 37 percent so far this year, even as the broad-based S&P 500 has retreated 14 percent. Exxon and Chevron shares have risen 51 percent and 36 percent respectively.
Consumers and businesses have felt the sting of rising fuel prices amid decades of high inflation.
The US average for a gallon of gas topped $5 for the first time in June. On Friday, it stood at $4.26, according to AAA. Consumer gas bills rose nearly 49 percent that month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday, after rising 20 percent in May. Diesel fuel, which underpins much of the US freight system, has also increased, putting pressure on large retailers in a fragile economy.
President Biden, who has faced criticism from the right over his handling of inflation and the economy, called out Exxon for making “more money than God” in a speech in June, while calling on Chevron and Chevron to redouble their efforts to get more oil supplies to market . .
In late June, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth responded with a sharply worded letter admonishing the administration for its attempts, “to criticize, and at times undermine, our industry.”
He added that Chevron is “also concerned about the higher prices Americans are experiencing,” while highlighting the company’s recent capital spending.
Oil companies are pumping more to meet demand, and Exxon is increasing its oil and gas production in the Permian Basin by 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared to the first half of 2021. But the market for crude still suffers from a drastic imbalance in supply and demand, and industry insiders says it will take years to bring new offers online.
“If you look at what it takes to bring in new investment to increase supply in the oil industry, it’s a fairly long-cycle investment … three to five years is a reasonable time frame to think about bringing significant additional production into the mix,” , Exxon CEO Darren Woods said on CNBC on Friday.
Alongside the production increases, the oil giants are also sending billions of dollars to Wall Street through share buybacks and dividends. Exxon reported distributing $7.6 billion to shareholders, including dividends, while Shell announced $6 billion in share buybacks designed to boost its share price.
Exxon shares jumped 4.7 percent on Friday to close at $96.97, while Chevron rose 8.9 percent to settle at $163.78. Shell climbed 3.7 percent to $53.38.
The gain came as the rest of Wall Street ended July with a third consecutive winning session. The Dow Jones industrial average added 315.50 points, or 1 percent, to end at 32,845.13. The S&P 500 jumped 1.4 percent to close at 4,130.29, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.9 percent to end at 12,390.69.
For the week, the Dow rose 3 percent, the S&P 500 4.3 percent and the Nasdaq 4.7 percent.
For July, the Dow rose 6.7 percent, the S&P 500 grew 9.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose 12.4 percent. These were the biggest monthly gains for all three indexes since November 2020, according to MarketWatch.