American energy giant ExxonMobil saw its net income decline by almost 50% in the first quarter of 2019, from the same period a year ago, according to the company's financial statement released on Friday.
ExxonMobil's net income of $2.35 billion in the first quarter of this year was down by a whopping 49.5% from the same quarter of the previous year when the U.S.' biggest energy firm saw a net income of $4.65 billion.
Revenue also fell slightly by 6.7% year-over-year to $63.62 billion in the January-March period of 2019, from $68.21 billion during the same period of 2018.
'The change in Canadian crude differentials, as well as heavy scheduled maintenance, similar to the fourth quarter of 2018, affected our quarterly results,' ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren W. Woods said in the statement.
The firm increased its capital and exploration expenditures by 41.5% to $6.89 billion in the first quarter of this year, from $4.87 billion during the same period of last year.
- Investments in three projects
ExxonMobil has recently made three final investment decisions in refining and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The U.S. major said it is proceeding with the development of the Golden Pass LNG export facility together with Qatar Petroleum, which is expected to begin exporting LNG in 2024.
Located in the Sabine Pass in the U.S. state of Texas, the $10 billion facility will have a capacity to produce around 16 million tons of LNG per year for export to the global gas market.
In addition, the company has begun construction on a new unit at its Beaumont, Texas refinery that is set to increase the crude refining capacity in the facility by more than 65 percent, or by 250,000 barrels per day.
'The third crude unit within the facility’s existing footprint will expand light crude oil refining and be supported by increased crude oil production in the Permian Basin,' according to the statement.
Finally, the firm is ready for the construction of a new polypropylene production unit in Baton Rouge, in the Louisiana facility that is estimated to expand production capacity along the U.S.' Gulf Coast by up to 450,000 metric tons a year. Construction for the new unit will begin this year, and production start is expected by 2021.
ExxonMobil plans to invest more than $50 billion over the next five years to build and expand manufacturing facilities in the U.S., of which $20 billion will be allocated for expanding manufacturing operations in the U.S.' Gulf Coast region as part of its 'Growing the Gulf initiative.'
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr