Exxon's huge $19.6bn oil profits draw new criticism from President Biden 

Rewarding energy shareholders has done nothing to appease US President Joe Biden, and in fact has fuelled his argument against Big Oil.

Exxon's $19.6bn third-quarter net profit far exceeded forecasts as skyrocketing natural gas and high oil prices put its earnings within reach of Apple's $20.7bn net for the same period.

Exxon Mobil responded directly to US President Joe Biden’s criticism of record energy industry profits by pointing to the company’s much-vaunted dividend, which it increased by a larger-than-expected amount. 

Exxon's $19.6bn third-quarter net profit far exceeded forecasts as skyrocketing natural gas and high oil prices put its earnings within reach of Apple's $20.7bn net for the same period.

“There has been discussion in the US about our industry returning some of our profits directly to the American people,” Exxon chief executive Darren Woods said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing in the form of our quarterly dividend,” he said. 

Exxon’s dividend payments over the last 12 months have overtaken Apple’s to become the second-largest among US large companies, behind Microsoft, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Rewarding energy shareholders has done nothing to appease President Biden, and in fact has fuelled his argument against Big Oil. Earlier this week, he again attacked oil companies after Shell issued bumper earnings, criticising the UK company for increasing its dividend rather than cutting prices for motorists. 

The president has repeatedly laid into oil companies at various points this year for not doing more to help consumers. Those words have become more frequent in recent weeks ahead of the mid-term elections. 

As recently as 2013, Exxon ranked as the largest publicly traded US company by market value - a position now held by Apple. Oil company profits have soared this year as rising demand and an undersupplied energy market collided with Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. 

US exports of gas and oil to Europe have jumped and promise to set all-time profit records for the industry. 

Bloomberg and Reuters