ExxonMobil reports that Q1 profits double to $11.4 bn

ExxonMobil reported Friday that first-quarter profits more than doubled to $11.4 billion, as the US oil giant returned over $8 billion to shareholders during the period.

Oil prices were lower in the 2023 period, but earnings were boosted by a better performance in the refining business, as well as higher oil and natural gas production.

Results in the 2022 quarter were also dented by one-time costs associated with ExxonMobil's withdrawal from a Russia project after the invasion of Ukraine.

The profits, a record for the company's first quarter, compared to $5.5 billion in the year-ago period. Revenues declined 4.3 per cent to $86.6 billion.

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Results in the 2022 period were lifted by spiking oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which also resulted in ExxonMobil's withdrawal from the Sakhalin offshore oilfield. The Sakhalin move led to one-time costs of $3.4 billion in the year-ago quarter.

But while crude prices were down 23 percent compared with the 2022 quarter, production volumes of oil and natural gas rose 4.1 per cent.

Chief Executive Darren Woods said the company "is growing value by increasing production from our advantaged assets to meet global demand."

The streak of massive profits by ExxonMobil and other US oil giants has sparked criticism from President Joe Biden and others, who have urged petroleum producers to boost volumes rather in a period of elevated inflation rather than spend extra cash on dividends and share repurchases.

The first quarter included a negative $200 million hit for additional European taxes on the energy sector, ExxonMobil said.

Shares climbed 0.4 per cent to $117.31 in pre-market trading.