US energy giant ExxonMobil said today that its first-quarter earnings dived 63% to $1.8 billion due to plunging oil prices.
ExxonMobil's upstream division, usually a cash cow that explores for and produces petroleum, suffered a $76m loss. That was partially offset by higher earnings in the oil giant's chemical division.
Revenues at the company tumbled 28% to $48.7 billion.
The results are the latest in a wave of petroleum industry results to reflect the battering effect of low prices. Earlier this week, both BP and ConocoPhillips reported losses for the quarter.
ExxonMobil said its upstream business boosted oil and gas production by 1.8% from the same time last year to 4.3 million barrels per day.
Oil companies have slashed capital spending in response to low prices.
However, in some cases, they have been able to keep production high as suppliers and oil-services companies have charged less for services.
ExxonMobil's earnings translated into 43 cents per share, 12 cents more than analyst expectations.
