Exxon Warns of $30 Billion Shale Writedown Decade After XTO

  • U.S. oil giant hobbled by gas investments from a decade ago
  • Chevron, European supermajors meanwhile are reaping profits

Exxon Mobil Corp. lost $680 million, or 15 cents a share, during the third quarter.

Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg
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Exxon Mobil Corp. warned it may take up to $30 billion in writedowns on natural gas fields acquired more than a decade ago, and reported a third straight quarterly loss.

Exxon is confronting one of its biggest crises since Saudi Arabia began nationalizing its oilfields in the 1970s. If the company takes the full $30 billion impairment, it will be the industry’s worst in more than a decade, according to Bloomberg data.