ExxonMobil reported a decline in third-quarter earnings on Friday due to lower profits from its refining business, but results were strong enough to allow distributions of nearly $10 billion to shareholders.

The US oil major, which saw its upstream oil production increase following its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, highlighted benefits of $11.3 billion in “structural cost savings” as a driver of its results.

The oil giant returned $9.8 billion to investors over three months, up from $9.5 billion in the second quarter. ExxonMobil increased the dividend by 4 percent, in addition to carrying out share buybacks.

Net profits in the third quarter were $8.6 billion, down 5.1 percent from the same period last year.

While profits were higher in chemicals and upstream, ExxonMobil saw a sharp decline in results in energy products due to weak refinery margins.

The company highlighted record oil and natural gas production in Guyana and strong results in the Permian Basin, a shale region in Texas and New Mexico.

Crude oil prices have fallen about 15 percent since the end of the second quarter, a dynamic that chief executive Darren Woods says reflects a market imbalance.

“We’re seeing record levels of demand for oil, record levels of demand for products coming out of refineries, for petroleum products,” Woods told CNBC.

“But we’re also seeing significant supply around the world right now, and a lot of that supply is coming from the United States, and unconventional developments that we have here in the United States, and so it’s basically about ‘a supply-driven pricing environment straight away.’

At Chevron, profits were $4.5 billion, down 31% from last year.

Chevron’s profits were also hurt by falling refining margins, although the company also benefited from record oil and natural gas production in the Permian Basin.

Chevron returned $7.7 billion to shareholders during the quarter, which the company says is a record.

Shares of ExxonMobil rose 1.9 percent in premarket trading, while those of Chevron gained 2.0 percent.