Oil giants are still wreathing from the agony of the oil price plunge in the global market as ExxonMobil posted a 63% slide in first quarter profits following low crude oil prices and weak refining margins.
It reported a profit of $1.8bn (£1.24billion), a steep fall from $4.94billion for the same period in 2015 and its lowest quarterly profit since 1999.
Revenue dropped 28% to $48.7bilion, but it had strong results from its petrochemicals division.
Meanwhile, its rival Chevron, performed even worse, with a quarterly net loss of $725million.
That compared with a net profit of $2.57billion for the same period in 2015 and was worse than analysts had expected.
John Watson, Chevron chief executive, said: “We are controlling our spend and getting key projects under construction online, which will boost revenue.”
Shares in ExxonMobil climbed 1.4% in New York on Friday, while Chevron fell 0.6%.
