Exxon guns for all-time profit record

Surging crude prices could help the oil giant post the biggest bottom line ever for a U.S. firm; refining margins, rising costs could get in the way.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, is within striking distance of setting an all-time profit record – again.

Analysts are expecting the company to post solid quarterly and full-year earnings next Thursday – and if the results top forecasts, Exxon could end up reporting the highest profit ever for a U.S. company.


With oil prices having recently crossed the $100 a barrel threshold, it comes as no surprise that Exxon is a whisker away from setting a new milestone.

“Exxon is likely to have record quarterly earnings,” said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer. “For every $1 [increase] in the price of oil, Exxon makes [another] $125 million for the quarter.”

When asked if Exxon could top profit records, another analyst said: “That’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

CNN