Exxon Mobil Corp Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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

Question: Devin McDermott - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : So Darren, you had some helpful prepared remarks on the downstream business. So I actually wanted to start there. If we look at results in the quarter, they were strong and actually looks like they came in a bit ahead of what was implied by the 8-K earnings considerations even with that Joliet impact you discussed and softening crack spreads in the quarter. It looks like margin capture volume costs were all factors here. So I was wondering if you could just talk through some of the latest market trends you're seeing across your refining footprint. The drivers of that beat versus earnings considerations. And then specifically, how some of the strategic projects are impacting results relative to your expectations.

Question: Neil Mehta - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : I just wanted to spend some time talking about the start-ups of the key LNG projects and maybe you can talk about where we stand in terms of derisking Golden Pass and bringing that into service. And then we get less visibility on what's happening in Qatar, but it's going to be a big important project, North Field expansion. So to the extent you're able to, can you just share your perspective of how that's going on the ground?

Question: Douglas Leggate - Wolfe Research - Analyst : Gosh, Darren, I'm trying hard not to get in front of December, but I would love to ask you a question on Guyana production capacity or rather production versus production capacity? And I guess my question goes like this. Alistair, I guess, has been quoted recently about the next wave of debottlenecking at Payara. A recent field trip that we hosted with you guys down there led us to understand that you haven't even drilled all the development wells in the early phases, like Liza 1. And then lastly, you've now got Hammerhead coming in on a converted FPSO, which typically seems to be a little quicker than the greenfield. So I guess my question is, how do you reconcile production versus production capacity? Because I guess it's how you've always kind of tried to manage the expectations on the outlook for Guyana.

Question: John Royall - JPMorgan - Analyst : So my question is on your balance sheet. The 5% net debt to capital is very impressive, and you're continuing to live within your means on the cash flow side, even when the cycle is turning down off of peaks. So my question is, do you consider yourselves underlevered at the higher point in the cycle and expecting to get your leverage back to higher levels as you continue a steady capital return program at the low point in the cycle? Or does the fact that you've remained in the 5% or less type of range for almost two years now maybe mean that you could get a little more aggressive on returning capital and go a little higher on the leverage side?

Question: Betty Jiang - Barclays - Analyst : I want to ask about the Permian efficiencies and trends in general. I know we'll get a lot more in December. But if we could get some early flavor on what you're seeing in the field, specifically these 3.5 to 4-mile laterals seems really interesting. And is that part of the synergies that you have identified with Pioneer initially?

Question: Bob Brackett - Bernstein Research - Analyst : I'd like to talk a little bit about Proxxima rebar and your comments around the addressable market. If I think about steel, steel is almost 2 billion tons a year, half of this construction is infrastructure-ish, rebar, it's $400, $500 a ton. And so the rebar market is something like, say, a $400-ish billion market. You're talking about $30 billion. How do you think -- it's almost heartened back to value versus volume. When you think about putting this product, which again, as you said, is lighter and stronger into the market, do you go for value and pricing? Or do you go for market share? And is the $30 billion reflecting that? Or is that just a preliminary sort of estimate?

Question: Jean Ann Salisbury - Bank of America - Analyst : With China 1 startup drawing closer, what is your view on the medium-term Asia chemicals market? China 1 does mostly high-performance chemicals. Do we need to see a return all the way to mid-cycle chems margins for that project to meet your projections?

Question: Biraj Borkhataria - RBC - Analyst : It's Biraj from RBC. Just wanted to ask around some recent reports in September that you were withdrawing from a farm down process in Namibia. Is there anything you can say about what you saw there that was not of interest? Obviously, there's a -- seems to be a lot of resources over there, but varying views on commerciality of the reservoirs. So any thoughts there would be appreciated as well as how you're thinking more broadly about bringing inorganic opportunities into what already feels like quite a full upstream hopper.

Question: Ryan Todd - Piper Sandler - Analyst : Maybe if I could ask them as we think about -- maybe this is front running, but as we think about CapEx in the 2025, is the post Pioneer kind of normalized run rate on quarterly or annualized CapEx the right way to think about the starting point for next year? Or are there any material moving pieces, whether it's incremental project timing or maybe even more specifically potential for cost deflation and efficiency gains in the Lower 48 part of the upstream that could push CapEx in one direction or the other?

Question: Paul Cheng - Scotiabank - Analyst : Darren, I'm (inaudible), your comment about the (inaudible). Is this a long-term over the next 10 years or that this is like over the next five years become potentially a very sizable business for the company? And when I say sizable, I mean, what is your capability to ramp up the production volume within the next five years if the market is there to accept it? I mean, trying to understand that how big are we talking about this one. And what sort of timeline we're really talking about. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 01, 2024 / 1:30PM, XOM.N - Q3 2024 Exxon Mobil Corp Earnings Call

Question: Jason Gabelman - Cowen - Analyst : I wanted to ask about the advantaged asset earnings in the quarter, which were lower quarter over quarter, and I'm just trying to understand the underlying drivers of that decline. If I think about Guyana, production was down 30,000 barrels a day, oil production from Pioneer maybe added 100,000 barrels of oil. So it kind of implies that the Guyana earnings per unit are about three times what you're getting from the Pioneer assets. And I wonder if that math is reasonable, there were other factors that were contributing to that advantaged asset volume earnings impact on the quarter. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 01, 2024 / 1:30PM, XOM.N - Q3 2024 Exxon Mobil Corp Earnings Call

Question: Jason Gabelman - Cowen - Analyst : Okay. Was there anything that was unique to Pioneer's contribution in the quarter that would have depressed it versus where it was last quarter?

Question: Roger Read - Wells Fargo - Analyst : To stay away from the December questions, let me throw one at you here on the overall op cost savings, the $15 billion total by '27, obviously, about three quarters of that's in. I was just curious, you mentioned earlier, Darren, a technology company, is any part of that cost savings up to the $15 billion related to any sort of AI effort internally? Or is it strictly the logistics as you've talked before? And if so, is there something beyond the $15 billion as you think about a technology change over time? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 01, 2024 / 1:30PM, XOM.N - Q3 2024 Exxon Mobil Corp Earnings Call