Exxon Q1 Profit Dips Almost 50 Percent

Exxon Mobil Corp on Thursday reported a 46 percent decline in quarterly earnings as a steep drop in crude prices cut into profits at the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

The Irving, Texas company had a first-quarter profit of $4.9 billion, or $1.17 per share, compared with $9.1 billion, or $2.10 per share, a year earlier.

Oil and natural gas output was 4.2 million barrels oil equivalent per day (boed), an increase of 97,000 barrels from a year earlier.

Reporting by Anna Driver