…first quarter earnings pegged at US$4.7B

ExxonMobil Guyana and partners reached total depth on the Sorubim well in the Stabroek Block, and unfortunately, the well did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons,” the Company said in a statement on Friday.

The company said that exploration wells come with a certain amount of risk and this is particularly true in frontier areas like Guyana. “Success is not guaranteed.” ExxonMobil experienced great exploration success in Guyana with seven previous discoveries: Liza, Liza Deep, Payara, Pacora, Snoek, Ranger, and Turbot. ExxonMobil said the Stena Carron drillship will continue to explore and evaluate other areas of the block. The Stena Carron is currently drilling the Liza 5 well, which will likely be followed by a new prospect, called Long Tail.

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil on Friday announced estimated first quarter 2018 earnings of US$4.7 billion, or US$1.09 per share assuming dilution, compared with US$4 billion a year earlier.

In a release the company said cash flow from operations and asset sales was US$10 billion, including proceeds associated with asset sales of US$1.4 billion. During the quarter, the corporation distributed US$3.3 billion in dividends to shareholders. Capital and exploration expenditures were US$4.9 billion, up 17 percent from the prior year.

Oil-equivalent production was 3.9 million barrels per day, down 6 percent from the first quarter of 2017. Excluding entitlement effects and divestments, oil-equivalent production was down 3 percent from the first quarter of 2017. “Increased commodity prices, coupled with a focus on operating efficiently and strengthening our portfolio, resulted in higher earnings and the highest quarterly cash flow from operations and asset sales since 2014,” said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. “Through new discoveries and acquired acreage, we’ve positioned our Upstream portfolio well for future growth. We also made good progress on our plans to improve the production mix and grow premium product sales in the Downstream and Chemical businesses.”

During the first quarter of 2018, Exxon Mobil Corporation purchased 5 million shares of its common stock for the treasury at a gross cost of US$425 million. These shares were acquired to offset dilution in conjunction with the company’s benefit plans and programmes. The corporation will continue to acquire shares to offset dilution in conjunction with its benefit plans and programs, but does not currently plan on making purchases to reduce shares outstanding.

Effective January 1, 2018, ExxonMobil adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s standard, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), as amended, using the Modified Retrospective method. ExxonMobil also adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Update, Financial Instruments–Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ExxonMobil also adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Update, Compensation –Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost.

The adoption of these standards did not have a material impact on the corporation’s financial statements. The cumulative effect of adoption of the new standards was de minimis. ExxonMobil will discuss financial and operating results and other matters during a webcast at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on April 27, 2018. To listen to the event or access an archived replay, please visit www.exxonmobil.com .