Exxon Mobil rose approximately 1.5% to $167.42 Tuesday morning even as a power failure forced its 264,000-barrel-per-day Joliet refinery into a plant-wide shutdown. The gain came as Brent crude pushed above $105 per barrel and investors priced in tighter global energy supplies, betting that stronger crude economics can outweigh the near-term hit from one disrupted refinery. Joliet is a meaningful asset, capable of producing roughly 11 million gallons of gasoline and diesel each day, but Exxon's second-quarter results showed $23.6 billion of operating cash flow and $17.2 billion of free cash flow, with $9.4 billion returned to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. That means distributions consumed about 54.7% of quarterly free cash flow, leaving substantial room to absorb temporary operational setbacks. The valuation picture is less forgiving: GuruFocus data shows Exxon at $167.42 versus a GF Value estimate of $127.76, putting the shares about 31.04% above that benchmark.
Exxon Mobil CorpPower failure forced Exxon's 264,000-bpd Joliet refinery into a plant-wide shutdown, a supply disruption offset by stronger crude economics.
