A map to ExxonMobil’s 3Q14 upstream numbers
A key guide to ExxonMobil’s 3Q14 earnings (Part 4 of 11)
Upstream production by geography
After discussing ExxonMobil’s (XOM) revenue, earnings, and volume discussions in the previous articles of this series, we will now analyze ExxonMobil’s geographic upstream revenue generation split and the upstream segments.
In 3Q14, ExxonMobil’s share of crude oil, natural gas liquids, bitumen, and synthetic oil production in the United States increased to 22%, from 19% in 3Q13, in its total production. ExxonMobil’s Asia production share came down to 29% in 3Q14, from 35% in 3Q13. Overall, ExxonMobil’s 3Q14 upstream production was 3.83 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, 4.7% lower than 3Q13 production.
Downstream and Chemical segment production up
Refinery throughput decreased in 3Q14 to 4.59 million barrels per day (or bpd), from 4.87 million bpd in 3Q13. Petroleum and Chemical product sales remained nearly unchanged at 5.99 million bpd, compared to 6.24 million bpd in 3Q14 relative to the year-ago level.
Steady downstream volume and better product mix helped ExxonMobil increase margins in 3Q14 despite a decrease in crude oil price realization and poor upstream performance. Continue reading to know ExxonMobil’s upstream business performance.
Overall earnings decrease in upstream business
In 3Q14, ExxonMobil’s earnings from its upstream U.S operations increased 20% to ~$1.25 billion, from $1.05 billion recorded in 3Q13. Non-U.S. upstream operations earnings decreased 9% to ~5.16 billion in 3Q14, from $5.66 billion in 3Q13.
Overall, earnings in ExxonMobil’s upstream business declined 4% in the third quarter of 2014 over the year-ago quarter. Upstream refers to crude oil and natural gas exploration and production activities. Read more on ExxonMobil’s international operations in Market Realist’s article Why ExxonMobil is critically dependent on is international operations.
In 3Q14, ExxonMobil’s average realization of crude oil was 12% lower than 3Q13, while natural gas price realization improved 13.7% in the U.S. Refer Post 3 for more volume analysis.
Lower crude prices also negatively affected upstream operations of other integrated energy majors such as Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), BP Plc. (BP), and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC). ExxonMobil (XOM) and Anadarko Petroleum (APC) are components of the Energy Select Sector of Standard and Poors depositary receipt (or SPDR) exchange-traded fund (or ETF) (XLE) and SPDR MSCI World Quality Mix ETF (QWLD).
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