By Sheila Dang and Dharna Bafna
HOUSTON, July 7 (Reuters) – U.S. oil and gas major Exxon Mobil signaled on Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings could see a boost of about $5 billion compared to the previous quarter, as oil prices spiked during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the company’s refining margins also improved.
Investors scrutinize Exxon’s earnings snapshot for signals on how oil firms will perform when they release second-quarter results. The conflict in the Middle East that began in February injected a hefty geopolitical risk premium into oil markets. For months, it virtually shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of global oil flows.
Benchmark Brent crude had an average closing price of $96.68 per barrel during the April-June quarter, up 23% from the first three months of the year. Prices climbed to $109.27 a barrel in April for the first time since 2022.
Exxon’s upstream segment could see profits lifted by about $1.6 billion, according to the midpoint of estimates provided by the company.
Earnings from refining could see a lift of about $2.6 billion due to so-called timing effects, according to Exxon’s regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Exxon took a multi-billion dollar hit in the first quarter due to financial hedging related to physical deliveries of cargoes. It said at the time that the positions would unwind and lead to profitability in subsequent quarters.
Disruptions due to the war could hurt second-quarter profit across the upstream and downstream units by about $1 billion, the filing showed.
The company will report second-quarter results on July 31.
Analysts expect Exxon to report $15.7 billion in adjusted earnings for the quarter, according to consensus analyst estimates compiled by LSEG, about triple first quarter earnings. This could raise eyebrows among Americans feeling pain at the pump. U.S. President Donald Trump has pressed oil companies to do more to lower gasoline prices.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston and Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Maju Samuel, Nathan Crooks and David Gregorio)
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