Exxon Mobil Corp Q1 2025 Earnings Call- Q&A Session Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Betty Jiang - Barclays Capital Inc. - Analyst : Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Have to say we're hearing this loud and clear about the resilience of the portfolio. We're fully cognizant that for Exxon any response is a function of choice, and you're playing the long game. But earlier, you also talked about the flexibility in the portfolio and that you will reconsider plans if you can improve NPV of investment. So I just want to better understand under what market condition weren't exercising that flexibility? And then how would you balance that decision versus the operational momentum you're seeing across the businesses?

Question: Devin McDermott - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC - Analyst : Hey. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. So Darren, I wanted to spend a little bit of time on chemicals. So the China chemicals project, as you highlighted, gives you a large domestic supply source at a time when we're seeing rising trade barriers, where watching one of the key strategic benefits of this project, I think, play out in real time. So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about how recent market developments, like slowing global growth, US-China tariffs were impacting performance at that facility and also your chemicals business more broadly?

Question: Devin McDermott - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC - Analyst : Great to see the strong results. Thanks, Darren.

Question: Douglas Leggate - Wolfe Research, LLC - Analyst : Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Darren. It's interesting to watch everyone talk about share buybacks. And you guys -- in terms of what the flexibility might be and so on, you guys have reiterated your $20 billion pace one day before the anniversary of when you close Pioneer. So my question is this, there's a lot of benefits to ExxonMobil for buying in the stock beyond just the cash return aspect, specifically reducing the dividend burden on the equity you issued on Pioneer. So my question is simply, given the volatility in the market, would you continue this pace regardless of the commodity within reason and leading your balance sheet to ensure that those Pioneer shares are essentially bought back in? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies.

Question: Douglas Leggate - Wolfe Research, LLC - Analyst : Thank you. I wonder if I could squeeze a quick follow-up, Darren, just very quickly on the 10 projects you have this year, one specifically. What is the current status or expected timing of the start-up of Golden Pass, and I'll leave it there? Thank you.

Question: Neil Mehta - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Yeah. Good morning, Darren and team. Darren, you mentioned in your comments, you want to make sure that you have -- take advantage of opportunities that a low-cost environment can present. And certainly, you talked about how you're doing that from a cost perspective. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies.

Question: Stephen Richardson - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities - Analyst : Hey. Good morning. Darren, I was wondering you've been really consistent on policy frameworks and incentives and what you all need to see to some of the investments certainly in some of the low carbon areas. So I was wondering if you could give an update on your current thoughts on Baytown? And are you likely to move ahead based on what you see today? And if not, what else needs to happen for you to get to FID?

Question: John Royall - J.P. Morgan Securities LLC - Analyst : Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. So my question is on Pioneer. You're hitting the one-year anniversary of closing the transaction. I was just hoping for an update on how you're tracking in the various buckets of synergies today. And particularly on the production side, the improved recoveries you've talked about, I know it was a little longer dated, but just any commentary on how those efforts are tracking.

Question: Biraj Borkhataria - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to go back to your CapEx plans. When you presented your plan in December, there was a sort of a wedge of CapEx that was policy dependent, things you would like to do provided the right environment was there. And would it be fair to assume in the near term, at least, given the amount of uncertainty we see that CapEx gets pushed to the right. And I'm thinking of things like the Baytown project, given the uncertainty on the policy and the tariffs? And then the second question is just a specific one on Mozambique. Is my understanding that you sold out of the floating development at Coral North in exchange for higher interest in the onshore development in a swap -- just wanted to confirm that and understand your rationale of that deal and how you expect that project to progress going forward? Thank you.

Question: Jean Ann Salisbury - BofA Global Research - Analyst : Good morning. A bit of a follow-up to an earlier question. But at your Investor Day in December, you showcased the new [Cooke] province that you believe could be a big contributor to raising EURs by 15%. Now with four more months of well data, is that province still performing to that expectation, even exceeding the expectation?

Question: Alastair Syme - Citi Investment Research - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Darren, just because you mentioned it in your prepared remarks that the litigation against the European Union on windfall tax, I think that's originally filed back in 2022. Where does this process currently sit? And what do you think the timeline is on resolution?

Question: Roger Read - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst : Yeah. Good morning. I'd like to come back on your -- some of your -- the end of your opening comments about kind of, I believe, it's $12 billion of cost savings achieved so far, $18 billion target by the end of the decade. When you previously kind of talked about the next stage of cost savings, it seems to have been logistics-focused. Nothing really said this time. So I'm just curious, some updates. We think about the incremental 6, is that logistics and procurement or has that grown as well or expanded in terms of the scope of things you're looking to cut costs on?

Question: Roger Read - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst : I appreciate that. And I had no intention, Darren, and Kathy of shorting of you the $700 million. I was just rounding number in my own mind.

Question: Roger Read - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst : Fair enough.

Question: Bob Brackett - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC - Analyst : Good morning. A question around tariffs and how they relate to your project organization. So how should we think about moving modules, equipment into maybe US projects? And what did tariffs due to that? And what does the project organization do to make sure you hit your CapEx numbers and deliver on time?

Question: Josh Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Thanks. Good morning, guys. Back at the Upstream Spotlight, you highlighted how Exxon was kind of down shifting away from dry gas production, and it's probably more related to the Lower 48. But just given the improving demand outlook, do you see any potential shift in the strategy here? Or is there just a lot of growth coming from the associated bucket that you can capture enough of the rising demand environment? Thanks.

Question: Ryan Todd - Piper Sandler & Co. - Analyst : Thanks. Refining performance, our energy products performance was very strong in the first quarter. I wonder if you could comment on any particular drivers of that, and how do you see the market evolving from here over the course of the year as you think about supply-demand margins, et cetera?