Oil companies make billions of dollars in profit every quarter but aren't passing it on to shareholders. Why?

Question

I own substantial shares of Exxon but haven't seen an increase in dividends in a long time.

Answer 1

I  don't  know  about  xom  but   bp  does  huge  dividends    via  bpt  .

I  also  have  the  Canadian  energy  ones  with  good  dividends   pgh ,  erf ,  pwe ,   hte  .   .   .

The  others  IDK .  .  .

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Answer 2

That profit is what pays for exploration and drilling.

Answer 3

they have top reinvest most of it in new wells,  equipment and infrastructure.

Answer 4

Exxon buys back their shares instead.  By buying back the shares the remaining shares get a larger part of the earnings and they believe that down the road this will help more than larger dividends.  Not saying I agree or disagree with the approach, but they (and a few others) do it this way  for better or worse.