Exxon expects a profit boom thanks to high oil prices. But exiting Russia will come at a cost
By Matt Egan, CNN Business
It’s a tale of two oil trends for ExxonMobil: The company will post a massive profit increase for the first quarter thanks to the oil price spike, but it’s bracing to lose money on its planned exit from Russia.
Exxon disclosed the news Monday ahead of its official quarterly earnings report on April 29, saying high oil prices significantly padded its bottom line during the quarter. But it could also take a $4 billion loss on a drilling project in Russia that is owned in part by the Russian government.
Exxon said it is “proceeding with efforts to discontinue operations” at the Sakhalin-1 drilling project — which the company promised last month to shut down due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions from the West — and is developing steps to exit the venture.
“Depending on the terms of its exit,” the company said, it may be forced to take a writedown on its investment in the project up to the full value of $4 billion.
However, Exxon’s core business is booming. The spike in oil prices alone will boost Exxon’s profit by up to $2.3 billion compared with the fourth quarter, according to the company’s Monday filing. U.S. oil prices increased by one-third during that timeframe.
Higher natural gas prices could add another $400 million, Exxon said.
The profit-boom disclosure comes as oil-and-gas companies face scrutiny, including from the White House, for not doing enough to invest their earnings in new supply that could ease high prices at the gas pump for consumers.
The CEOs of Exxon and Chevron, along with senior executives from other major oil companies, are scheduled to testify before Congress at a hearing on Wednesday called “Gouged at the gas station: Big Oil and America’s pain at the pump.”
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