Exxon Profit Declines After Oil Market Collapse

Exxon Mobil Corp. put investors on notice that it’s scaling back measures to prop up the share price as shrinking production and tumbling crude prices squeeze cash flow needed to fund drilling and dividend payouts.

Exxon cut share repurchases for the current quarter to a 14-year low Monday after oil and natural gas output declined more than expected, its U.S. refineries lost $1 million and cash flow tumbled 36 percent company-wide. Production from Exxon’s wells dropped to the lowest fourth-quarter average since the Mobil Corp. merger in 1999.