ExxonMobil
For the quarter, the company earned $6.3 billion, or $1.33 per share, compared with $4.55 billion, or $0.92 a share, a year ago. At the same time, the company's revenues increased to $90.25 billion from $64.03 billion in the same quarter a year ago. However, the Wall Street analysts who follow the company had expected earnings of $1.39 a share along with $6 billion of additional revenue.
From a comparison perspective, BP
ExxonMobil earned $5.8 billion in its upstream (exploration and production) segment, an increase of $2.3 billion from the comparable quarter last year. Higher crude oil prices benefited the company, while its gas realizations declined somewhat year on year. However, on an oil-equivalent basis, Exxon's total production was 4.5% higher year on year.
At the same time, natural gas production was nearly 15% higher, thanks to increased production in Qatar and higher demand in Europe. If, as is expected, ExxonMobil completes its acquisition of gas producer XTO Energy
As noted, a weak refining environment beset most of the major oil companies during the first quarter. Exxon earned $37 million from this segment, down $1.1 billion from last year. At the same time, chemical earnings were substantially higher than a year ago, based on both stronger margins and increased volumes.
So, this wasn't a perfect quarter for Exxon. Earnings are still well below all the quarters in 2006 through 2008. However, this remains a solid, well-managed company; one that Fools with a thirst for energy should continue to watch very, very carefully.