Exxon Mobil on Friday beat Wall Street’s third quarter profit estimate, boosted by strong oil output in its first full quarter that includes volumes from U.S. shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources.

Oil industry earnings have been squeezed this year by slowing demand and weak margins on gasoline and diesel. But Exxon’s year-over-year profit fell 5%, a much smaller drop than at rivals BP and TotalEnergies, which posted sharply lower quarterly results.

The U.S. oil producer reported income of $8.61 billion, down from $9.07 billion a year ago. Its $1.92 per share profit topped Wall Street’s outlook of $1.88 per share, on higher oil and gas production and spending constraints.

“We had a number of production records” in the quarter, said finance chief Kathryn Mikells, citing an about 25% year-on-year increase in oil and gas output, to 4.6 million barrels per day.

Exxon shares rose about 1.9% in premarket trading to $119 per share.

Exxon earlier this month had flagged operating profit likely fell, leading Wall Street analysts to shave their quarterly per share earnings outlook by nearly a dime.

The results included Exxon’s first full quarter of production following its acquisition in May of Pioneer Natural Resources. The $60 billion deal drove production in the top U.S. shale basin to nearly 1.4 million barrels per day of oil and gas, helping overcome a 17% decline in average oil prices in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Exxon disclosed it raised its quarterly dividend by 4% after generating free cash flow of $11.3 billion, well above analysts’ estimates. Rivals Saudi Aramco and Chevron have had to borrow this year to cover shareholder returns after boosting dividends and buybacks to attract investors.

Exxon did not provide a fourth quarter outlook, but said it plans to provide investors with a revised production forecast next month. OPEC in December may add 180,000 barrels per day of additional supply to a market with an uncertain demand outlook.

The market is worried about oil supply outrunning demand. Prices slumped over the summer and remain about 12% below June’s average.

Exxon’s earnings from producing gasoline and diesel were $1.3 billion, down from $2.44 billion in the same quarter a year ago as weak margins and a refinery outage pummeled fuel results.

An Illinois refinery went offline for nearly a month during the quarter, a shutdown that analysts estimate hit operating profits by about $250 million.

“Refining margins definitely came down in the quarter. If you look at overall results for the refining business, we feel pretty good,” said Exxon’s Mikells. Per unit refining margins since 2019 have about doubled on a constant margin basis, she said.

Profits from Exxon’s chemical business, which has been pressured by industry overcapacity for two years, rose in the quarter to $893 million, compared to $249 million a year ago, on a slight increase in margins.

“We are in a much better position (in chemicals) because we have a strong Gulf Coast footprint that benefits from Gulf Coast (natural gas) prices,” said CFO Mikells.

Saudi Arabia may cut December oil prices for Asia, sources say.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may cut prices for most of the crude grades it sells to Asia in December, tracking weakness in Middle East benchmark Dubai, trade sources said.

Price cuts for Saudi oil would signal weak demand and provide more evidence for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, to potentially delay plans to increase production from December.

The official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude may fall by 30 to 50 cents a barrel in December from the previous month, a Reuters survey of six refining sources showed, in line with a similar drop in Dubai price spreads last month.

Spot premiums for Middle East crude fell last month as the Asia market was well supplied while demand from key buyers such as China remained lacklustre despite a rebound in refining margins.

Still, some of the respondents expect smaller price cuts for heavier grades of Saudi crude such as Arab Medium and Arab Heavy in December on support from strong margins for high-sulphur fuel oil.

Complex refining margins in Singapore, the bellwether for the region, rebounded to above $4 a barrel in the second half of October, up from September’s average of $2.12, the lowest this year.

OPEC+ could delay December’s planned increase to oil production by a month or more, four sources close to the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, citing concern about soft oil demand and rising supply.

A decision to delay the increase could come as early as next week, two of the sources said. Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month, and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting about 9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude bound for Asia.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers and after calculating the change in the value of its oil over the past month, based on yields and product prices.

Saudi Aramco officials as a matter of policy do not comment on the kingdom’s monthly OSPs.

 Reuters