ExxonMobil’s annual earnings decrease alongside increased production
ExxonMobil Corp. highlighted significant achievements in production and shareholder returns in yearend 2024 financial results. The company had annual earnings of $33.7 billion, or $7.84 per share, with fourth-quarter earnings at $7.6 billion, or $1.72 per share, compared with earnings of $36 billion for full-year 2023 and $8.6 billion for third-quarter 2024.
The operator distributed $36 billion in shareholder returns in 2024, comprising $16.7 billion in dividends and $19.3 billion of share repurchases. This level of distribution places the company among the top six in the S&P 500 for shareholder returns.
In 2024, ExxonMobil generated cash flow from operations totaling $55 billion and free cash flow of $34.4 billion. Capital and exploration expenditures were $27.6 billion, in alighnment with the company's full-year guidance.
Since 2019, the operator achieved $12.1 billion of cumulative Structural Cost Savings, including $2.4 billion of savings during 2024, more than offsetting inflation and growth. ExxonMobil expects to deliver $18 billion of cumulative savings through end-2030 versus 2019.
In a press release Jan. 31, Darren Woods, ExxonMobil's chairman and chief executive officer, emphasized the company's transformation and performance. "Operationally, we delivered strong results on safety, reliability, and emissions. Financially, we delivered some of our highest earnings and operating cash flow in a decade."
ExxonMobil earnings by segment
Upstream full-year 2024 earnings were $25.4 billion, $4.1 billion higher than 2023. Excluding identified items, earnings increased $1.6 billion due to advantaged assets volume growth from record Guyana and Permian basin production, and structural cost savings. These increases were partly offset by lower natural gas prices, higher depreciation expense, and lower base volumes from divestments of non-strategic assets and entitlements.
In 2024, ExxonMobil reached its highest production levels in over a decade. The company's net production averaged 4.3 MMboe/d, marking a 16% increase from the previous year. The surge was driven by record outputs from the Permian basin and offshore Guyana.
Energy Products full-year 2024 earnings were $4.0 billion compared with $12.1 billion in 2023 due to significantly weaker industry refining margins, which declined from historically high levels as increased supply from industry capacity additions outpaced global demand. Earnings improvement from structural cost savings and advantaged projects provided a partial offset to the impacts from higher scheduled maintenance and divestments.
Chemical Products 2024 earnings were $2.6 billion, an increase of $940 million versus 2023. Unfavorable 2023 identified items of $388 million were mainly associated with asset impairments and other financial reserves.
2024 earnings excluding identified items increased by $647 million compared with 2023. Despite continued bottom-of-cycle market conditions, overall margins improved as the company benefited from lower ethane feed costs at its advantaged North America assets and improved high-value product sales and realizations.
Record high-value product sales more than offset lower base volumes from high-grading the portfolio product mix. Higher expenses primarily from planned maintenance and cost associated with advantaged projects starting up in 2025 were partly offset by structural cost savings.
