Oil price benchmarks around the world have been battered over the past week. For example, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude was trading just above the $75 per barrel mark at the time of this writing. Meanwhile, the price of Western Canadian Select was trading at around $52/barrel in after hours trading on Friday, November 24. Both have fallen sharply from the highs they achieved in late September. What is behind this latest retreat? Let’s jump in.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) announced that they would delay their meeting that was originally schedule for this coming Sunday. Nations were expected to discuss making further cuts to global supply at this meeting. The cancelled meeting was enough to spur a sell-off in some of the world’s top oil price benchmarks. However, North American drivers will find reason to celebrate as the drop in oil and gas prices comes just in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving travel weekend and the Black Friday-Cyber Monday holiday shopping weekend.
Exxon Mobil is a Houston-based company that is engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and around the world. Shares of Exxon Mobil have dropped 2.3% so far in 2023. The stock has declined 8.1% in the year-over-year period.
In the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal 2023, Exxon delivered strong earnings of $9.1 billion or $2.25 per share. Meanwhile, it produced $16.0 billion of operating cash flow, increasing the cash balance to $3.4 billion. Exxon stock last had a favourable price-to-earnings ratio of 10. This is a stock worth watching for investors as oil prices take what could be a temporary tumble.
