Exxon Mobil reported Q2 earnings this morning, posting $11.7 billion in net income ($2.22 per share) on $138.1 billion in revenue (up 40% year-over-year). Though profits were up 14% year-over-year, they missed Street estimates by 26 cents.
More worrisome: production fell 7.8%, the biggest decline in at least a decade. Bloomberg:
Production tumbled 7.8 percent after assets were seized in Venezuela, Nigerian workers went on strike and record prices triggered contract clauses that give oil-rich governments a bigger share of output.
CEO Rex Tillerson said that Exxon is spending $52 million a day looking for new fields. Crude prices may have fallen off their peak earlier this month, but if companies like Exxon continue to fail to increase production, it's likely that we'll be heading back to that peak (and beyond) very soon. Unless the global economy collapses.
See Also: Chavez Demands Exxon's Venezuelan Assets, Promises To Send Oil To $300
Exxon Upgraded To Buy
