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July 31 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp reported a $1.1
billion loss for the second quarter on Friday, the first
back-to-back quarterly loss for the U.S. oil giant in at least
36 years.
Exxon stood out among its supermajor peers for not taking a
large writedown on the value of its assets as the industry
outlook darkens on the future of oil and gas prices.
Chevron Corp, Total, Royal Dutch Shell,
and Eni wrote down billions of dollars in assets. BP
has signaled an up to $17.5 billion hit.
The COVID-19 pandemic slashed oil prices, sending Exxon's
oil and gas production business to a loss. Its refining
businesses was hit by a fall in demand, but an improvement in
inventory valuations pushed overall refining profits into the
black by nearly $1 billion.
The U.S. oil major reported a loss of $1.08 billion, or 26
cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, compared
with a profit of $3.13 billion, or 73 cents per share, a year
earlier. (https://exxonmobil.co/30d059Q)
An adjusted loss of 70 cents per share missed Wall Street's
estimate of 61 cents, according to Refinitiv.
Oil and gas output fell 7% from a year earlier to 3.6
million barrels per day in the quarter as it curtailed output
due to the oil price crash and threat that global oil storage
would fill in May.
Prior to the pandemic, Exxon pursued an ambitious spending
plan to boost oil output and turnaround sagging profits on a bet
that a growing global middle class would demand more of its
products.
But CEO Darren Woods's plan to raise production and money by
selling some assets has faltered and the company has slashed its
capital spending plans for this year by 30%.
Exxon is preparing deeper spending and job cuts, according
to people familiar with the matter, as it fights to preserve a
8% shareholder dividend.
It said on Friday it had identified more potential cost cuts
and was doing an "evaluation across the businesses on a
country-by-country basis."
(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller in Houston and Arathy S Nair in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Jason Neely)
