The American oil group ExxonMobil produced less oil and gas in the first quarter, but thanks to the rise in the price of a barrel of oil, profits have exploded.

ExxonMobil produced 3.7 million barrels per day in the period, which is less than in the first quarter of 2021 or the previous quarter. The group blames the decline on weather events that forced it to temporarily suspend operations, maintenance and the divestment of some businesses.  

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, oil prices have soared during the quarter, rising to more than $130 per barrel in early March in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, before falling back to between $100 and $110 currently.

As a result, ExxonMobil’s revenues have soared 53% to $90.50 billion. This is slightly less than expected by analysts.  

On the other hand, its net profit doubled, to 5.48 billion dollars. On a per-share basis and excluding exceptional items, it was also slightly below expectations.  

ExxonMobil’s financial management decided to reduce the company’s net profit by a charge of 3.4 billion dollars related to the shutdown of its activities in Russia.  

Like many multinationals that have distanced themselves from Moscow, ExxonMobil announced in early March that it would withdraw from its last major project in the country, Sakhalin-1.

ExxonMobil has managed this site, located in the far east of Russia, north of Japan, since 1995 on behalf of a consortium comprising subsidiaries of the Russian company Rosneft, an Indian company and a Japanese company, and owns 30% of it. It is in the process of phasing out its operations there.

Although the U.S. president recently lashed out at oil companies, accusing them in a speech of “getting rich” at the expense of motorists and hoarding profits instead of investing in production, the group said production in the Permian Basin, which straddles Texas and New Mexico, was growing and that the company still planned to increase production by 25 percent this year.