09:27 AM EDT, 11/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) on Friday reported better-than-expected third-quarter results as higher oil production helped offset lower industry refining margins and prices.

The oil giant's adjusted earnings came in at $1.92 per share for the September quarter, compared with the Capital IQ-polled consensus of $1.89. Total revenue and other income declined to $90.02 billion from $90.76 billion last year, but topped the Street's view for $88.36 billion.

Exxon saw oil prices decline about $5 a barrel to $80 in the third quarter, "brought on by uncertainties surrounding supply and demand," Chief Financial Officer Kathy Mikells said in prepared remarks. Refining margins also decreased on a sequential basis with record global demand "more than met by incremental supply from recent industry start-ups," according to Mikells.

"Despite these market headwinds, our diverse and integrated portfolio continues to deliver strong results," Mikells said. "Natural gas prices improved during the quarter supported by summer demand due to warm weather in North America and European supply concerns."

Exxon's shares gained 1.9% in recent premarket activity.

Upstream segment earnings edged higher to $6.16 billion from $6.13 billion in the prior-year quarter. Production increased to 4.58 million oil-equivalent barrels a day from 3.69 million barrels last year, ahead of the 4.51 million-barrel estimate modeled by analysts.

Earnings in the energy product operations segment slumped to $1.31 billion from $2.44 billion last year, impacted by lower refining margins and a tornado-related shutdown at the company's refinery in Illinois. Chemical products jumped to $893 million from $249 million last year, while specialty products advanced to $794 million from $619 million last year.

Total costs and other deductions fell to $76.99 billion from $77.06 billion in the year-ago period. Across the entire organization, the company achieved $11.3 billion in structural cost savings since 2019, Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a statement. Capital and exploration expenditures came in at $7.16 billion versus $7.04 billion a year ago, in line with the company's full-year target of $28 billion.

"Looking ahead, we expect scheduled maintenance in the upstream to lower volumes by 30,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in the fourth quarter," according to Mikells. Exxon maintained its full-year production outlook of 4.3 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, including Permian production of 1.2 million oil-equivalent barrels a day, the CFO added.

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