Exxon Mobil Corp posted the worst quarterly performance by the company in six years as the worldwide glut in oil collapsed the prices quicker than explorers were able to cut costs.
Net income was down to over $4.19 billion equal to $1 per share from last year’s $8.78 billion equal to $2.05 per share during the same period.
The result per share was 11 cents less than expectations of analysts. Exxon shares were down 1.9% during early trading prior to the U.S. markets opening on Friday.
Refinery profits fattened due to lower costs of crude but were offset by the weaker results from the primary business of the company its natural gas and oil production, said Exxon. The company’s wells in the U.S. posted a loss of $47 million.
Exxon reduced its spending on its major projects like its floating crude platforms and terminals for gas export by 20% during the just ended quarter. International crude oil prices have fallen by 42% from June of 2014 to about $63.50 per barrel.
CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson was amongst the first bosses in the oil industry to shrink company spending as the rout on crude started to take shape over one year ago.
After cutting its budget by 0.3% during 2014, the reduction this year exceeded its original target of 12%, the company announced during its conference call on April 30.
Tillerson, a lifer with Exxon, is in his 10th year as the CEO had has been negative about the prospects for an imminent rebound in the oil market.
Even as the CEO has cut spending and has re-evaluated whether some projects that are multi-billion dollar make sense economically, with oil at $50 per barrel, the company discovered a field off the Guyana coast that could hold the equivalent of over 700 million barrels of crude.
