Exxon Booked $5.6 Billion Of Trading Losses In Nine Months, Against A $503 Million Gain A Year Ago
The loss sits beneath refining profits that lifted nine-month earnings to $34.1 billion, according to Exxon's quarterly report.
Exxon's commodity trading contracts lost $5.6 billion before tax, realized and unrealized, in the first nine months of 2026, against a $503 million gain a year earlier, the oil giant's quarterly report shows. The hole opened mostly in the third quarter, and it sits under a refining windfall that pushed nine-month earnings to $34.1 billion from $22.3 billion.
A loss that grew by $3.3 billion
Exxon's second-quarter report put the six-month trading loss at $2.3 billion. The nine-month figure of $5.6 billion implies about $3.3 billion more was added in the third quarter.
The company uses commodity contracts, including derivatives, both to manage price risk and to generate returns from trading. It does not apply hedge accounting to them, so price swings hit earnings directly.
The positions grew. Net notional crude oil derivatives stood at 105 million barrels long at September 30, versus 20 million at June 30 in the draft's comparison and 6 million at year-end 2025. Gross derivative assets reached $38.9 billion, from $7.5 billion at year-end.
Timing effects widen the gap to adjusted profit
In its earnings release, Exxon reported nine-month earnings of $34,121 million and adjusted earnings of $40,957 million. Estimated timing effects, mainly unfavorable derivative mark-to-market, cut earnings by $3,941 million over nine months, including $2,541 million in the third quarter.
Timing effects arise when derivatives are marked to period-end prices while the matching physical shipments have not yet hit earnings. The company says these impacts are expected to unwind in subsequent periods. Energy Products absorbed the most, with a $2,750 million nine-month hit, which the filing attributes primarily to rising crude prices.
The release also lists an identified-items loss in Energy Products tied to impairments and Middle East supply disruptions that prevented physical shipments associated with hedges.
The refining boom beneath it
Third-quarter earnings were $15.4 billion, versus $7.5 billion a year earlier. Energy Products earned $7,169 million in the quarter, versus $1,840 million, as stronger refining margins added $7,660 million. Refining margins climbed past anything in the 10-year range, the filing says, while Strait of Hormuz supply stayed restricted.
Operating cash flow for the nine months was $57.9 billion, $18.6 billion above a year earlier. Exxon spent $15.1 billion on share buybacks and paid $12.9 billion in dividends.
Balance sheet and what comes next
Total debt fell to $34.3 billion from $43.5 billion at year-end 2025, against cash of $12.2 billion. Undrawn short-term committed credit lines were $7.4 billion. Exxon plans capital spending of $27 billion to $29 billion in 2026.
Exxon has declared a fourth-quarter dividend of $1.07 per share, payable December 10 to holders of record on November 16.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — ExxonMobil (XOM) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — ExxonMobil (XOM), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-08-03 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, livef8k3q26991.htm) — ExxonMobil, filed 2026-10-30 — SEC EDGAR
- Oil earnings Chevron (CVX) and Exxon (XOM) Q3 2026 — CNBC
- XOM Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Refining Strength and LNG Expansion — Yahoo Finance
- ExxonMobil Beats Third-Quarter Profit Estimates on Refining Boom — Reuters
- 5 must-read analyst questions from ExxonMobil’s Q3 earnings call — Yahoo Finance
- Oil company earnings skyrocket — again : NPR — NPR
