ExxonMobil: Investing for growth

Exxon Mobil Corporation announced an estimated second quarter 2019 earnings of $3.1 billion, compared with $4 billion a year earlier.

Oil-equivalent production was 3.9 million barrels per day, up 7 percent from the second quarter of 2018. Liquids production increased 8 percent driven by Permian Basin growth and reduced downtime, with limited impact from entitlement effects and divestments. Natural gas volumes increased 5 percent, excluding entitlement effects and divestments.

“We continue to make significant progress toward delivering our long-term growth plans,” said Darren W. Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive officer.

“Our new U.S. Gulf Coast steam cracker is exceeding design capacity by 10 percent, less than a year after startup. Our upstream liquids production increased by 8 percent from last year, driven by growth in the Permian Basin, and we are preparing to startup the Liza Phase 1 development in Guyana, where the estimated recoverable resource increased to more than 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels.”

Downstream highlights:

  • Industry fuels margins, while remaining under pressure during the second quarter, improved from very low levels in the first quarter on stronger gasoline margins, mainly in the U.S.
  • Planned maintenance activity remained at a high level during the quarter, as the company successfully completed a significant turnaround at its Joliet, Illinois, refinery in the U.S. mid-continent region. Results were also impacted by unscheduled downtime at refineries in Baytown, Texas; Sarnia (Canada); and Yanbu (Saudi Arabia).

Chemical highlights:

  • Paraxylene margins weakened during the quarter with lengthening supply from recent industry capacity additions.
  • Results were impacted by a significant increase in turnaround activity during the second quarter.
  • Production at the new ethane steam cracker in Baytown, Texas, successfully increased to exceed design capacity by 10 percent.

Investing for growth:

  • ExxonMobil and SABIC announced the decision to proceed with the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project to construct a new chemical facility in San Patricio County, Texas. The new facility will include an ethane steam cracker with a capacity of 1.8 million metric tons per year, two polyethylene units and a monoethylene glycol unit.
  • ExxonMobil made a final investment decision on a multi-billion dollar expansion of its integrated manufacturing complex in Singapore to convert fuel oil and other bottom-of-the-barrel crude products into higher-value lube basestocks and distillates. The expansion will add 20,000 barrels per day of ExxonMobil Group II basestocks capacity and increase production of lower-sulfur fuels by 48,000 barrels per day.
  • ExxonMobil announced that it will proceed with a $2 billion expansion project at its Baytown, Texas, chemical plant. The expansion will add annual production of about 400,000 metric tons of VistamaxxTM performance polymers, and about 350,000 metric tons of linear alpha olefins.
  • The company reached a final investment decision to upgrade its Fawley refinery in the United Kingdom to increase production of ultra-low sulfur diesel by almost 45 percent, or 38,000 barrels per day, along with logistics improvements. The more than $1 billion investment includes a hydrotreater unit to remove sulfur from fuel, supported by a hydrogen plant which will improve the refinery’s overall energy efficiency.

Advancing innovative technologies and products:

  • The company completed an expansion at its Singapore refinery to enhance EHCTM Group II basestocks production, with supply to customers expected in the third quarter of 2019. The expansion will enable customers to blend lubricants that satisfy more stringent specifications, lower emissions and improve fuel economy and low-temperature performance.
  • ExxonMobil announced that it will invest up to $100 million over 10 years to research and develop advanced lower-emissions technologies with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory. The agreement, among the largest between the department’s laboratories and the private sector, will support research and collaboration into ways to bring biofuels and carbon capture and storage to commercial scale across the transportation, power generation and industrial sectors.

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