The world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company, Exxon Mobil, made $5.9 billion from Congress' recent move to slash the corporate tax rate.

Corporations were the biggest beneficiaries of the $1.5 trillion tax deal passed in December as their tax rates were cut from 35 percent to 21 percent. As one of the largest companies, Irving-based Exxon Mobil was expected to have one of the biggest windfalls.

Although that was good news for the company's bottom line, investors punished Exxon's stock Friday after fourth-quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations. Shares closed at $84.53, down 5.15 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange, after earnings data showed that Exxon produced less oil than expected and missed out on profiting from higher oil prices.

A Bloomberg story described earnings from Exxon and competitor Chevron as "woefully off the pace."

In 2018, Exxon aims to correct its production shortfall with increasing output from the Permian Basin in West Texas. CEO Darren Woods said this week that the company planned to spend $50 billion over the next five years to expand business in the U.S. That includes a goal of tripling production in the Permian Basin by 2025.

Exxon's top executive credited the tax cuts for that planned increase in spending. That loosening of the wallet returns Exxon to its typical spending from 2012 to 2016, before oil prices plunged. The prices are at about $65 a barrel, a multiyear high.

Climate-change impact

Exxon executives also chose Friday to release the climate change analysis demanded by investors last year. The report was an attempt at forecasting the impact of Paris Agreement -- assuming it is implemented-- on Exxon's business in a low-carbon future.

Oil demand would drop by an average of 0.4 percent annually from 2010 to 2040, but natural gas demand would increase by 0.9 percent annually, the report said.

President Donald Trump wants to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. But Exxon has publicly supported the international effort to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The report was a result of a shareholder proposal that the company initially opposed. After the resolution was adopted with 62 percent of the votes, Exxon agreed to study the issue and make the findings public as part of regular disclosures.

That shareholder initiative was led by the New York state comptroller's office -- which controls the nation's third-largest pension plan, the New York State Common Retirement Fund -- and supported by some of the world's largest investment funds, such as BlackRock. Matthew Sweeney, a spokesman for the comptroller, said the office expects to discuss the report with Exxon in the coming days.

This new Exxon report said that "Even under a 2°C pathway, significant investment will be required in oil and natural gas capacity, as well as other energy sources."

Exxon said in the report that the company had 20 billion oil-equivalent barrels in reserves at the end of 2016. By 2040, the company expects that 90 percent of those reserves could be produced economically. The company would also need to replenish about 35 billion oil-equivalent barrels by 2040, according to the report.

"Considering that the 2°C Scenarios Average implies significant use of oil and natural gas through the middle of the century, we believe these reserves face little risk," the report said.