Exxon Mobil Corp's fourth quarter earnings fell by 21 percent in part because of the drastic drop in oil prices. However, the company did still beat Wall Street expectations thanks in part to an arbitration ruling against Venezuela, Fox News Latino reports.

Exxon revealed Monday it earned $6.57 billion in the fourth quarter on $7.28 billion of revenue. While that is down from the year prior's numbers of $8.35 billion on revenue of $110.86 billion, the oil company did report earnings per share of $1.56. Wall Street analysts had predicted earnings of $1.33 per share.

An arbitration ruling over some assets that had been seized by the Venezuelan government helped Exxon realize a $1 billion boost in net income.

In the arbitration ruling, Exxon held a multibillion dollar claim against Venezuela for the naturalization of two oil projects.

Exxon won the claim for $1.6 billion but expected up to $14.7 billion. The final payment was reduced to about $1 billion.

"Our goal with the arbitration was to seek compensation for the fair market value of assets that were expropriated," Exxon said in a statement, according to Bloomberg Business.

"Exxon Mobil's affiliate engaged in extensive discussions with PDVSA and government officials but was unable to reach agreement on fair compensation."

Falling oil prices affected Exxon's revenue and profits. In turn, Exxon's chemical division was able to buy oil, which helped them make chemicals for much less. That led to a 35 percent boost in chemical earnings.

Exxon's stock has been falling most of 2015. The stock price has been down 5 percent since the New Year, and over the past 12 months, it has been down about 3.5 percent.

On Monday's relatively positive earnings report, the stock is up almost 1.5 percent.

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