Sawt Falasteen - Profits dip at ExxonMobil, Chevron on lower crude prices

ExxonMobil reported that third-quarter profits had dipped 12.3 percent to $7.5 billion year-on-year, while Chevron reported a 21.1 percent drop in profits to $3.5 billion during the same period.

Both companies have invested heavily in the Permian Basin, a shale-rich area in Texas and New Mexico, while also pursuing projects in international hotspots.

The results showed the impact on earnings from crude oil prices in the $60-$70 per-barrel range, down about $10 from the 2024 period.

Crude prices have been challenged in recent months by a cloudy outlook on demand owing to economic uncertainty. But geopolitical issues -- most recently over US sanctions on Russian crude -- have helped keep oil prices from dropping more significantly.

ExxonMobil pointed to major new exploration and production projects that came online in Brazil and Guyana, its fourth and largest so far in the latter. The company touted its proficiency at "mega-projects" of more than $5 billion in capital spending.

Total volumes were 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 4.1 percent from the year-ago level.

"We've now started up eight of our 10 key 2025 projects, with the remaining two on track," said Chief Executive Darren Woods. "No one else in our industry is executing at this scale, with this level of innovation, or delivering this kind of value."

Woods said the company was optimistic about moving ahead with a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, where NGOs have loudly criticized a plan by French petroleum giant TotalEnergies to resume work.

Woods said ExxonMobil was "moving ahead" with the Mozambique project, having hosted the president of the country in Houston this week.

"It was a really productive session," Woods told analysts, while not directly giving a timeframe for a final investment decision.

- Chevron defends Venezuela operations -

Chevron, which is also a big player in the Permian Basin, reported production of about 4.1 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day, up about 21 percent from the year-ago level following the completion of a $53 billion acquisition of US company Hess.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth defended the company's continued operations in Venezuela, where it has lobbied US officials to maintain a license to keep pumping oil despite intensifying tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Wirth told CNBC that the company's presence in Venezuela has been "constructive" for both the United States and Venezuela, noting that the South American country's heavy crude is sought after by US refiners.

"We believe that regional trade and foreign investment is a vehicle for countries to work together," said Wirth, adding that the company's intelligence and security staff were monitoring the situation.

Washington began a campaign of strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September that has killed at least 62 people and destroyed 14 boats and a semi-submersible.

Trump said on Friday that he was not considering strikes on Venezuela.

Shares of ExxonMobil added 0.2 percent, while Chevron rose 3.4 percent.

Z.Ramadan--SF-PST