Exxon, Chevron third-quarter profits jump on rising commodity prices

By Ernest Scheyder

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (N:) and Chevron Corp (N:), two of the world’s largest oil producers, said on Friday their quarterly profits each jumped about 50 percent, helped by rising commodity prices and lower costs.

The results show improving cash generation at both companies and in the industry in general, as investors continued to push for capital discipline throughout the energy sector.

“Cash is king, more and more,” said Brian Youngberg, an oil industry analyst with Edward Jones. “These companies are trying to be disciplined and show growth.”

At both companies, though, the results also reflected their dependence on commodity price swings to boost results. Neither company hedges oil or production.

At Exxon, results beat expectations despite a drag from Hurricane Harvey, which shuttered many U.S. Gulf Coast refineries during August.

Exxon’s shares fell 1.7 percent to $82.12 in morning trading.

At Chevron, a writedown of its Bangladesh operations and a drop in U.S. production weighed on results, which missed Wall Street expectations by a wide margin.

Chevron’s shares dropped 3.5 percent to $114.30 in morning trading.

French rival Total SA (PA:) posted a 29 percent jump in third-quarter net profit as project ramp-ups and new investments lifted production.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.