Exxon Mobil profit rises 41 pct on higher prices

NEW YORK?? Exxon Mobil's quarterly profit rose 41 percent as higher prices for oil and natural gas made up for lower production.

Despite outspending other oil giants for the past few years, production dropped for the largest publicly traded oil company. Some of the declines resulted from international deals that limit the amount of oil that Exxon can sell as prices rise, the company said. But excluding those limits, production was still flat.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s exploration and production business increased profit nearly 19 percent in the U.S. and 61 percent internationally. And its U.S. refineries quadrupled profits as the price of gasoline and other fuels soared.

But oil production fell 7 percent to 2.25 million barrels per day while natural gas production slipped 3 percent to 4.28 million cubic feet per day.

Exxon earned $10.33 billion, or $2.13 per share, in the third quarter. That compared with $7.35 billion, or $1.44 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 32 percent to $125.3 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $2.12 per share on revenue of $118.5 billion, according to FactSet.

Shares rose by $1.33, or 1.6 percent, to $82.40 in premarket trading.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45059413/ns/business-us_business/

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