HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil, the largest American oil company, reported a 53 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit on Monday, helped by higher crude prices.þþProfit in the quarter was $9.25 billion, or $1.85 a share, compared with $6.05 billion, or $1.27 a share in the period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected $1.63 a share. þþTotal revenue in the quarter was $105.2 billion, up from $89.8 billion in the quarter a year earlier. þþFor the year, Exxon made $30.46 billion, or $6.22 a share, compared with $19.28 billion, or $3.98 a share, for 2009. Revenue for 2010 rose to $383 billion from $310 billion the previous year. þþExxon’s performance was in line with the strong results of most other large oil companies, which have benefited not only from strengthening oil prices but also from improved margins in their refinery businesses. Nevertheless, the results still do not compare with the record profits set a few years ago when oil and gas prices were far higher than they were at the end of last year or even today. þþOil prices have been steadily creeping up in recent months to around $90 a barrel, and the turbulence in Egypt has made traders skittish about the possibility of shortages of supplies if the Suez Canal is somehow blocked or political tensions spread to nearby Saudi Arabia. But natural gas prices, which are increasingly important to big oil companies that have been increasing their gas investments in recent years, remain depressed though prices have firmed a bit because of cold winter weather. þþChevron, the No. 2 American oil company, reported on Friday that fourth quarter earnings were 72 percent higher than the preceding year. The third-largest, ConocoPhillips, reported that its quarterly profit climbed 46 percent. Growing demand for crude around the world, particularly in China and other developing countries, pushed oil futures traded in New York for the fourth quarter 12 percent higher than the year before, to just over $85 a barrel. þþThe earnings reports have been overshadowed by developments in Egypt, which have caused a sharp upturn in oil prices in recent days to around $90 a barrel. þþEgypt is not a major oil producer, but 1.8 million barrels a day pass through the Suez Canal every day and the Sumed pipeline carries another 1.1 million barrels a day from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. Neither have been disrupted so far. þþSeveral Western oil companies operate in Egypt, including BP and Apache, contributing to the country’s production of nearly 700,000 barrels a day. The most vulnerable is Apache Corporation, a middle-sized Houston-based oil and gas producer that relies on Egypt for a hefty proportion of its oil production. But so far the unrest has not impacted exploration and production since the oil fields are far away from major population centers. þþ
Source: NY Times
