Exxon Mobil Corporation today announced second-quarter 2023 earnings of $7.9 billion, or $1.94 per share assuming dilution.
Capital and exploration expenditures were $6.2 billion in the second quarter and $12.5 billion for the first half of 2023, in line with the company's full-year guidance of $23 billion to $25 billion.
Second-Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights
Earnings were $7.9 billion compared with first-quarter earnings of $11.4 billion. Excluding the identified item associated with additional European taxes on the energy sector, earnings were $7.9 billion compared with $11.6 billion in the prior quarter.
Lower natural gas realizations and industry refining margins adversely impacted earnings. Results benefited from the absence of prior quarter unfavorable derivative mark-to-market impacts.
The company remains on track to deliver $9 billion of structural cost savings by the end of 2023 relative to 2019, having achieved cumulative structural cost savings of $8.3 billion to date.
Cash flow from operations totaled $9.4 billion and free cash flow was $5.0 billion, which includes a net working capital impact of $3.6 billion primarily driven by higher seasonal cash tax payments. Cash flow from operations excluding working capital was $13.0 billion. The company's debt-to-capital ratio remained at 17% and net-debt- to-capital ratio was 5%, reflecting a period-end cash balance of $29.6 billion.
The three new central organizations formed this past quarter, Global Business Solutions, ExxonMobil Supply Chain, and Global Trading, are off to a good start, further leveraging the company's scale and integrated business model to lower cost and improve performance.
Shareholder Distributions
Second-quarter shareholder distributions of $8.0 billion included $4.3 billion of share repurchases and $3.7 billion of dividends.
The Corporation declared a third-quarter dividend of $0.91 per share, payable on Sept. 11, 2023, to shareholders of record of Common Stock at the close of business on Aug. 16, 2023.
ADVANCING CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
Carbon Capture and Storage1
Already a global leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS), ExxonMobil expanded its position further by entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Denbury Inc. The planned acquisition provides ExxonMobil with one of the largest owned and operated carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline networks in the United States at 1,300 miles, most of which is located along the U.S. Gulf Coast, one of the largest U.S. markets for CO2 emissions. The planned acquisition includes 10 strategically located onshore sequestration sites as well as Denbury's 20- plus years of expertise in transporting and storing CO2. An established, cost-efficient transportation and storage system accelerates CCS deployment for ExxonMobil and third-party customers and underpins multiple low- carbon value chains including CCS, hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels, and direct air capture.
ExxonMobil and Nucor Corporation, one of North America's largest steel producers, have entered into a long- term commercial agreement in which ExxonMobil, subject to government permitting, will capture, transport, and store up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from Nucor's steel manufacturing site in Convent, Louisiana. The project, expected to start up in 2026, will tie into the same CO2 infrastructure that will be used by the company's project with CF Industries.
The agreement with Nucor is the third CCS agreement announced in the past twelve months and brings the total contracted CO2 to transport and store for third-party customers to 5 million metric tons per year. That is equivalent to replacing approximately 2 million gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles2, which is roughly equal to the number of electric vehicles on U.S. roads today.
Cautionary Statement
Statements related to outlooks; projections; descriptions of strategic, operating, and financial plans and objectives; statements of future ambitions and plans and other statements of future events or conditions in this release, are forward-looking statements. Similarly, discussion of future carbon capture, transportation and storage, as well as biofuel, hydrogen and other plans to reduce emissions are dependent on future market factors, such as continued technological progress, policy support and timely rule-making and permitting, and represent forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including financial and operating performance; total capital expenditures and mix, including allocations of capital to low carbon solutions; structural earnings improvement and structural cost reductions and efficiency gains, including the ability to offset inflationary pressure; plans to reduce future emissions and emissions intensity; ambitions to reach Scope 1 and Scope 2 net zero from operated assets by 2050, plans to reach net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions in Upstream Permian Basin unconventional operated assets by 2030, eliminating routine flaring in-line with World Bank Zero Routine Flaring, reaching near-zero methane emissions from its operations, meeting ExxonMobil's emission reduction goals and plans, divestment and start-up plans, and associated project plans as well as technology efforts; timing and outcome of projects related to the capture, transportation and storage of CO2, and produced biofuels, including completion of the Denbury acquisition; changes in law, taxes, or regulation including environmental and tax regulations, trade sanctions, and timely granting of governmental permits and certifications; timing and outcome of hydrogen projects; cash flow, dividends and shareholder returns, including the timing and amounts of share repurchases; future debt levels and credit ratings; business and project plans, timing, costs, capacities and returns and resource recoveries and production rates, could differ materially due to a number of factors. These include global or regional changes in the supply and demand for oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, and feedstocks and other market factors, economic conditions and seasonal fluctuations that impact prices and differentials for our products; government policies supporting lower carbon investment opportunities such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act or policies limiting the attractiveness of future investment such as the additional European taxes on the energy sector; variable impacts of trading activities on our margins and results each quarter; actions of competitors and commercial counterparties; the outcome of commercial negotiations, including final agreed terms and conditions; the ability to access debt markets; the ultimate impacts of COVID-19 or other public health crises, including the effects of government responses on people and economies; reservoir performance, including variability and timing factors applicable to unconventional resources; the level and outcome of exploration projects and decisions to invest in future reserves; timely completion of development and other construction projects; final management approval of future projects and any changes in the scope, terms, or costs of such projects as approved; government policies and support and market demand for low carbon technologies; war, civil unrest, attacks against the company or industry and other political or security disturbances; expropriations, seizure, or capacity, insurance or shipping limitations by foreign governments or laws; opportunities for potential acquisitions, investments or divestments and satisfaction of applicable conditions to closing, including timely regulatory approvals; the capture of efficiencies within and between business lines and the ability to maintain near-term cost reductions as ongoing efficiencies; unforeseen technical or operating difficulties and unplanned maintenance; the development and competitiveness of alternative energy and emission reduction technologies; the results of research programs and the ability to bring new technologies to commercial scale on a cost-competitive basis and other factors discussed under Item 1A. Risk Factors of ExxonMobil's 2022 Form 10-K.
Forward-looking and other statements regarding our environmental, social and other sustainability efforts and aspirations are not an indication that these statements are necessarily material to investors or requiring disclosure in our filing with the SEC. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking environmental, social and sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future, including future rule-making.
Frequently Used Terms and Non-GAAP Measures
This press release includes cash flow from operations and asset sales (non-GAAP). Because of the regular nature of our asset management and divestment program, the company believes it is useful for investors to consider proceeds associated with the sales of subsidiaries, property, plant and equipment, and sales and returns of investments together with cash provided by operating activities when evaluating cash available for investment in the business and financing activities. A reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities for the 2022 and 2023 periods is shown on page 7.
This press release also includes cash flow from operations excluding working capital (non-GAAP), and cash flow from operations and asset sales excluding working capital (non-GAAP). The company believes it is useful for investors to consider these numbers in comparing the underlying performance of the company's business across periods when there are significant period-to-period differences in the amount of changes in working capital. A reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities for the 2022 and 2023 periods is shown on page 7.
This press release also includes earnings/(loss) excluding identified items (non-GAAP), which are earnings/(loss) excluding individually significant non-operational events with, typically, an absolute corporate total earnings impact of at least $250 million in a given quarter. The earnings/(loss) impact of an identified item for an individual segment may be less than $250 million when the item impacts several periods or several segments. Earnings/(loss) excluding identified items does include non-operational earnings events or impacts that are generally below the $250 million threshold utilized for identified items. When the effect of these events is significant in aggregate, it is indicated in analysis of period results as part of quarterly earnings press release and teleconference materials. Management uses these figures to improve comparability of the underlying business across multiple periods by isolating and removing significant non-operational events from business results. The Corporation believes this view provides investors increased transparency into business results and trends and provides investors with a view of the business as seen through the eyes of management. Earnings excluding identified items is not meant to be viewed in isolation or as a substitute for net income/(loss) attributable to ExxonMobil as prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. A reconciliation to earnings is shown for 2023 and 2022 periods in Attachments II-a and II-b. Corresponding per share amounts are shown on page 1 and in Attachment II-a, including a reconciliation to earnings/(loss) per common share - assuming dilution (U.S. GAAP).
This press release also includes total taxes including sales-based taxes. This is a broader indicator of the total tax burden on the Corporation's products and earnings, including certain sales and value-added taxes imposed on and concurrent with revenue- producing transactions with customers and collected on behalf of governmental authorities ('sales-based taxes'). It combines 'Income taxes' and 'Total other taxes and duties' with sales-based taxes, which are reported net in the income statement. The company believes it is useful for the Corporation and its investors to understand the total tax burden imposed on the Corporation's products and earnings. A reconciliation to total taxes is shown in Attachment I-a.
This press release also references free cash flow (non-GAAP). Free cash flow is the sum of net cash provided by operating activities and net cash flow used in investing activities. This measure is useful when evaluating cash available for financing activities, including shareholder distributions, after investment in the business. Free cash flow is not meant to be viewed in isolation or as a substitute for net cash provided by operating activities. A reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities for the 2022 and 2023 periods is shown on page 7.
References to resources or resource base may include quantities of oil and natural gas classified as proved reserves, as well as quantities that are not yet classified as proved reserves, but that are expected to be ultimately recoverable. The term 'resource base' or similar terms are not intended to correspond to SEC definitions such as 'probable' or 'possible' reserves. A reconciliation of production excluding divestments, entitlements, and government mandates to actual production is contained in the Supplement to this release included as Exhibit 99.2 to the Form 8-K filed the same day as this news release.
The term 'project' as used in this news release can refer to a variety of different activities and does not necessarily have the same meaning as in any government payment transparency reports. Projects or plans may not reflect investment decisions made by the company. Individual opportunities may advance based on a number of factors, including availability of supportive policy, technology for cost-effective abatement, and alignment with our partners and other stakeholders. The company may refer to these opportunities as projects in external disclosures at various stages throughout their progression.
Government mandates are changes to ExxonMobil's sustainable production levels as a result of production limits or sanctions imposed by governments.
EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION 
