HOUSTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) posted a $56 billion web revenue for 2022, the corporate stated on Tuesday, taking house about $6.3 million per hour final 12 months, and setting not solely an organization document however a historic excessive for the Western oil business.

Oil majors are anticipated to interrupt their very own annual data on excessive costs and hovering demand, pushing their mixed take to close $200 billion. The size has renewed criticism of the oil business and sparked requires extra international locations to levy windfall revenue taxes on the businesses.

Exxon’s outcomes far exceeded the then-record $45.2 billion web revenue it reported in 2008, when oil hit $142 per barrel, 30% above final 12 months’s common worth. Deep price cuts in the course of the pandemic helped supercharge final 12 months’s earnings.

“General earnings and money move have been up fairly considerably 12 months on 12 months,” Exxon Chief Monetary Officer Kathryn Mikells instructed Reuters. “In order that got here actually from a mixture of sturdy markets, sturdy throughput, sturdy manufacturing, and actually good price management.”

Exxon stated it incurred a $1.3 billion hit to its fourth-quarter earnings from a European Union windfall tax that started within the closing quarter and from asset impairments. The corporate is suing the EU, arguing that the levy exceeds its authorized authority.

Excluding costs, revenue for the complete 12 months was $59.1 billion. Manufacturing was up by about 100,000 barrels of oil and fuel per day over a 12 months in the past to three.8 million bpd. Adjusted per-share revenue of $3.40 beat consensus of $3.29 per share, based on Refinitiv knowledge.

Shares have been up almost 2% at $115.63.

“It’s a headline beat,” Biraj Borkhataria from RBC Capital stated in a notice, regardless of decrease chemical margins, lower-than- anticipated downstream positive factors and plans for greater upkeep works in refineries this quarter.

WINDFALL TAXES

The outcomes arrange one other confrontation with the White Home. Corporations may enhance manufacturing however determined as an alternative to “plow these earnings into padding the pockets of executives and shareholders,” the White Home stated in an announcement.

Exxon distributed $30 billion in money to shareholders final 12 months, greater than any of its Western rivals, and invested $22.7 billion within the enterprise.

Windfall revenue taxes are “illegal and unhealthy coverage,” countered Mikells. Slapping new taxes on oil earnings “has the other impact of what you are attempting to attain,” she stated, including that it could discourage new oil and fuel manufacturing.

Exxon boasted that its money move from operations soared to $76.8 billion final 12 months, up from $48.1 billion in 2021. And it determined to carry $30 billion in money stability. The corporate stated it discovered from the pandemic, when it discovered itself empty handed and raised debt to pay dividends to shareholders.

“Having a very sturdy stability sheet is a aggressive benefit for us,” Mikells stated, including that it permits the corporate to attend for potential acquisition alternatives and maintain its dividend program intact even when power costs ultimately fall.

Exxon posted $12.8 billion in fourth-quarter web revenue excluding costs, 44% greater than the identical interval final 12 months however down 35% from the earlier quarter as oil costs eased and a few operations suffered from cold-weather-related outages.

PROJECT SPENDING

Exxon’s spending on new oil and fuel tasks bounced again final 12 months to $22.7 billion, up 37% from the prior 12 months. The corporate elevated outlays on discoveries in Guyana, within the high U.S. shale area, and on gas refining and chemical substances.

“The counter-cyclical investments we made earlier than and in the course of the pandemic supplied the power and merchandise individuals wanted as economies started recovering,” Exxon Chief Govt Officer Darren Woods stated in an announcement.

Investments can go as much as $25 billion this 12 months, Woods stated. A part of it’s defined by rising prices within the Permian, with inflation within the double digits, amid “actually, actually sizzling” demand for equipments and providers, he stated.

Exxon guided Permian manufacturing this 12 months to 600,000 bpd, up 50,000 bpd from final 12 months however barely beneath market expectations. However, Woods projected that sturdy refining margins will proceed in 2023.

Exxon’s outcomes come forward of what are anticipated to be sturdy earnings from Shell plc on Thursday and from BP plc and TotalEnergies subsequent week.

Reporting by Sabrina Valle in Houston; Further reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Christian Schmollinger, Mark Porter and Anna Driver

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.