Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. each reported second-quarter results on Friday that fell to their weakest level in four years as sub-$65 crude prices squeezed margins. Both U.S. supermajors nonetheless topped Wall Street expectations, buoyed by record oil and gas output from the Permian Basin, Guyana and other growth projects. Exxon’s net income declined 23.4% from a year earlier to $7.1 billion, while revenue slid 12.4% to $81.5 billion. Upstream production rose to about 4.63 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, the strongest second-quarter volume since the company’s 1999 merger, helping deliver adjusted earnings of $1.64 a share—roughly eight cents above the analyst consensus. Chevron’s profit dropped 43% to $2.49 billion, or $1.45 a share, hurt by lower commodity prices and the mid-July closing of its $53 billion purchase of Hess Corp. Even so, adjusted earnings of $1.77 a share beat estimates as worldwide production climbed to 3.4 million boe/d, including 1 million boe/d from the Permian. Chevron said the newly acquired Hess assets should add 450,000–500,000 boe/d in the second half of 2025, with capital spending at the unit projected at $2 billion–$2.5 billion. Looking ahead, Chevron expects full-year output growth to reach the upper end of its 6%–8% target, excluding Hess, and plans to maintain annual share buybacks of up to $15 billion. Exxon, which has already repurchased about 40% of the shares issued for last year’s Pioneer Natural Resources takeover, signalled interest in additional acquisitions. Both companies said strong cash generation leaves them positioned to keep investing even if oil prices weaken further.