Exxon Mobil Corp Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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

Question: Neil Mehta - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : I just wanted to pick up on the capital spend point. You are indicating that you're going to be below the range this year. And of course, we'll get a little more color on December 9 about how you're thinking about 2026. But could you talk about the moving pieces? Is it about capturing deflation? Is it about deferring investment particularly around some of the low carbon solutions? How should we be thinking about the drivers of that?

Question: Devin McDermott - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : So I wanted to dive into the Permian a bit more. It's record production results in the quarter. You also raised the guide for the full year. I was hoping you could unpack the drivers for us a little bit more. Are we already seeing some outperformance as a result of your advanced proppant rollout? Have there been other changes you've made to development or spacing? And how does this all impact how you're thinking about the capital and activity requirements to achieve your multiyear growth targets?

Question: Arun Jayaram - JPMorgan Chase & Co - Analyst : I had a little bit of a bigger picture question. Exxon recently published its global outlook through 2050 and includes around 5% oil growth, 20% gas growth in a doubling of LNG demand called over the next 25 years. I was wondering if you could talk about how this outlook informs your strategy? And how should we think about where the puck will go in terms of future organic or inorganic opportunities for the company?

Question: Bob Brackett - Sanford C Bernstein & Co LLC - Analyst : I'd like to talk a bit about Superior Graphite. I'm curious what exactly you acquired from them? Was it that their facilities in the US and Europe or more technology? And also curious how tightly integrated would that be into your existing refining petrochemical strategy? And then I'll tack on, what do you think that total addressable market might be?

Question: Sam Margolin - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst : So yeah, I wanted to ask about the inorganic strategy a little bit. It seems like it's accommodated by two factors. The first is capital efficiency in the business. And the second is the balance sheet, which is leading among peers. And so the question is, given all these tailwinds in the business and in the capital structure, do you feel like you can step up in organic activity even more now and set the table for additional opportunities beyond what's in your pipeline today?

Question: Paul Cheng - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Darren and Kathy, I'm just curious that, I mean, you just have a one-off cost maybe head count reduction. But I'm trying to understand that you've been doing a lot of different projects. I mean, you're probably doing far more than any of your peers at this point. So should we assume that, at this moment, you were pretty rounding up against your organizational capability or that you think your ability that to even increasing the pace of investment just a function of opportunity set, but not limited by your capability?

Question: Paul Cheng - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : That's great. I suppose that that's why you just bought Discovery 6, that's part of that improving your, maybe, capability and efficiency going forward?

Question: Biraj Borkhataria - RBC Capital Markets Inc - Analyst : I wanted to ask about Mozambique and the onshore development. There were some reports suggesting you were targeting FID in the first quarter of 2026, but then I read there was a meeting with the government, which has been deferred. So could you just talk about where you are with that project? Maybe the security situation and then whether an FID in early '26 is likely?

Question: Ryan Todd - Piper Sandler Companies - Analyst : Maybe one on exploration. You've been, I think, increasingly active on this front in recent years. Can you talk about opportunities on the horizon over the next 12 to 24 months? And how, if at all, you believe your approach to exploration may have changed relative to maybe times in the past?

Question: Betty Jiang - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : Darren, so Google just recently signed a power contract with gas power plant and wind capture. So really great to see development on that front. Wondering how your conversation is evolving? And I know Exxon has consistently talked about your only interested in power from a molecule perspective. But just given how quickly that power demand is growing and just how quickly that scale is growing as well, curious if there's any appetite to start offering maybe traditional power first and then adding on carbon capture capabilities later on? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 31, 2025 / 1:30PM, XOM.N - Q3 2025 Exxon Mobil Corp Earnings Call

Question: Betty Jiang - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : I'm hopeful as well. Thank you very much for the color.

Question: Jean Ann Salisbury - Bofa Merrill Lynch Asset Holdings Inc - Analyst : I wanted to go back to the proppant. As you referenced in your prepared remarks, the first like 12- to 18-month well results have started to come out, the Wood Mac study, and the results have been really positive. As you've been able to get more data this year, is there any other granularity you can share on where you think you're able to improve recovery the most like, for example, gassier zones, oiler zones, deeper zones, et cetera? And is there anything you can comment on how you see the strength of your patents or other barriers to entry, keeping others from copying it?

Question: Jason Gabelman - Cowen and Company LLC - Analyst : I want to go back to the exploration discussion because it was notable since we last spoke, you've entered into multiple new blocks to expand exploration. And it's not only Exxon pursuing additional exploration efforts, but you're seeing peers advertise their exploration intentions also. So the question is really what do you think is driving this industry trend? And do you see competition to enter into new blocks becoming more competitive? And I'm thinking, given Exxon's view that Shell is going (technical difficulty) to, I guess, in the next 5 to 10 years, is that a decent part of why you've seen the industry focus more on exploration?

Question: Paul Sankey - Sankey Research - Analyst : You've referenced a lot of this already on this call, but I wondered if you could give Exxon Mobil's perspective on the current AI CapEx boom, especially as you're bringing down your CapEx guidance today. And it's a process and strategy question, a high level. Your CapEx, your peak CapEx spending at Exxon around 2013 was over $30 billion a year, which would be about $40 billion in today's dollars. If we look at Meta alone, they've got a trailing run rate of your peak $30 billion and are going to $70 billion this year and next. Could you talk about, then, the challenges that you envisage for that capital deployment from a management perspective, firstly? And secondly, I wondered, given the speed of this, what are the impacts directly on your business? What are the areas where this boom is either challenging or benefiting you?

Question: Phillip Jungwirth - Bank of Montreal - Analyst : Refining margins have been pretty supportive this year and we're a contributor to sequential earnings growth in the quarter. A lot of moving pieces here at the moment. I was just hoping you could touch on how you see the market considering OPEC unwinds, supply disruptions, resilient demand? And then also touch on the Baytown project FID-ed this quarter and just how you're positioning the business based on the longer-term outlook.