Exxon Mobil and Chevron earnings fall as Iran war disrupts oil shipments

exxon and chevron both reported first-quarter earnings on friday that fell sharply from last year — exxon's net income down 45%, chevron's down 36% — even as oil prices surged 57% after the us and israel attacked iran on feb 28. the war caused the largest oil supply disruption in history, but the price spike didn't translate into windfall profits for the two biggest us oil companies. both still beat wall street estimates. exxon posted adjusted earnings of $1.16 per share on revenue of $85.14 billion, beating estimates of $82.18 billion. chevron earned $1.41 per share adjusted, beating the 95-cent estimate — its biggest earnings beat since october 2020. chevron's revenue of $48.61 billion missed estimates of $52.1 billion. the culprit was financial hedges. exxon lost nearly $4 billion on open hedges due to a "timing effect" — product shipments hedged weren't delivered in the quarter. it also took a $700 million hit on closed hedges not offset by physical deliveries. chevron booked a $2.9 billion charge on its hedges. exxon's refining segment posted a $1.26 billion loss from those timing effects; excluding them, refiners earned $2.8 billion, up over 200% from last year. chevron's us refiners posted a 90% profit increase to $196 million, operating at record throughput in march. its international refiners lost about $1 billion. chevron ceo mike wirth told cnbc the global energy system is under extreme stress and prices will keep rising until the strait of hormuz reopens.