Exxon’s 1Q profit falls 46% amid decline in oil price

Irving, Texas: Lower oil prices pushed Exxon Mobil Corp.’s first-quarter profit down 46 per cent, but the results still beat Wall Street expectations.

Exxon said Thursday that it earned $4.94 billion — a huge sum but the weakest first quarter for the oil giant since 2009. A year earlier, Exxon earned $9.10 billion. When world oil prices collapsed from about $100 a barrel to less than $50 over the second half of last year, it made some drilling projects unprofitable. Exxon is beginning to cut costs — the company said last month that it would trim capital spending this year by 12 per cent, to $34 billion, and the CEO expects relatively low oil prices to stick around.