Exxon Mobil posts nearly $10 bln profit on record oil

Reuters ^ | Thu Oct 27, 2005

[sumocide]

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest publicly traded oil company, on Thursday said quarterly profit surged 75 percent to nearly $10 billion, raking in a bonanza from record oil prices.

The profit was the highest in the company's history, surpassing the record it set in the 2004 fourth quarter. Revenue jumped 32 percent to just over $100 billion.

Two powerful hurricanes ripped through the Gulf of Mexico in the third quarter, disrupting energy operations in the region and sending oil prices and refining margins sharply higher.

Exxon Mobil said net income rose to $9.9 billion, or $1.58 a share, in the third quarter from $5.68 billion, or 88 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding a gain of $1.62 billion from restructuring its stake in a Dutch gas transportation business, earnings were $1.32 per share. On that basis, analysts' average forecast was $1.39, according to Reuters Estimates.

Exxon shares were unchanged at $56.20 in pre-market trade.

The company's oil and gas production fell 4.7 percent from a year earlier as outages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, maintenance activities, and maturing fields more than offset higher production from new fields in West Africa.

Excluding the impact of the hurricanes, divestments and entitlement effects, output fell 1 percent.

Still, record crude oil prices -- which touched $70 a barrel in the quarter -- pushed earnings at its exploration and production unit to $5.73 billion in the quarter, up $1.8 billion from a year earlier.

At its refining and marketing operations, profit rose to $2.13 billion, up $727 million from a year earlier, as stronger refining margins outweighed weak marketing margins and lower petroleum product sales.

Earnings at its chemicals division tumbled to $472 million, down $537 million from a year earlier, due to higher feedstock costs and lower margins.

Exxon Mobil's capital expenditures jumped to $4.41 billion from $3.63 billion a year earlier.

Shares of Exxon Mobil, the largest of the so-called "super-major" oil companies, rose more than 10 percent in the quarter, underperforming the broader Standard & Poor's integrated oil and gas index, which rose more than 13 percent.

[CSM]

What is the actual ROS involved with these numbers?

[hripka]

"State and local gas tax collections exceed oil industry profits by a large margin, according to a Tax Foundation study released last week. Since 1977, consumers have paid $1.34 trillion in gas taxes - more than twice the profits of all major U.S. oil companies combined during that same period. Last year, state and federal gas taxes took in $58.4 billion. Major U.S. oil company profits last year totaled $42.6 billion."

- New Hampshire Union Leader, 10/30/05

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Excluding a gain of $1.62 billion from restructuring its stake in a Dutch gas transportation business, earnings were $1.32 per share. On that basis, analysts' average forecast was $1.39, according to Reuters Estimates.

They missed the analysts estimate so this is a bad thing. They were expected to make even more money.

[litehaus]

THE Recently wed Mr. Exxon and former Ms.Mobil speak up---

The happy couple are proud to announce that their combined income has reached record heights and is the talk of the town.

Prior to their marriage both were considered only "above average income" folks.

Neighbors have been heard to say -- "This isn't fair" and urged they be forcibly divorced so each can return to their earlier , less remarkable status.