Impairment charge holds Exxon back

ExxonMobil announced on Tuesday that it had booked a USD 2-billion impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2016, driving down earnings.

In its estimated 2016 earnings release, ExxonMobil said profit for the mentioned quarter was USD 1.7 billion, down some 40% year-on-year. Without the charge, earnings would have been some 32% higher than in the same period in 2015, the company pointed out.

For the full year, Exxon registered earnings of some USD 7.8 billion, down 51% from 2015. Low oil prices and weaker profit margins were the main reasons for the decline, the company said.

“ExxonMobil demonstrated solid operating performance in 2016,” said CEO Darren Woods.
“Financial results for the year were negatively impacted by the prolonged downturn in commodity prices and the impairment charge,” he added.

Last year, ExxonMobil produced 4.1 million boepd, and added 250,000 boepd of working interest output capacity.