Multinational oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) saw its shares rise 42.5% year-to-date as the company posted modest earnings and revenue growth in the first quarter of 2022, propelled by the rise in oil and gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The oil giant reported downstream earnings of $332 million compared with a loss of $390 million in the first quarter of 2020. This was primarily attributable to improved industry fuel refining margins and lower expenses. XOM’s shares rallied 15.8% over the past three months and 5.3% over the past month.
Closing its last trading session at $85.25, XOM is trading just 6.8% below its 52-week high of $91.51. Moreover, the company tripled the size of its share repurchase program to send more cash back to shareholders. Although its exit from the Russia Sakhalin-1 operation resulted in an after-tax charge of $3.4 billion, the oil producer’s plans to expand carbon capture capacity at its facility in Wyoming and significant advancements at the Liza Phase 2 development in Guyana have attracted investor’s attention.
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