Chevron Q3 Profit More Than Doubles

Houston, TX (AHN) - Chevron Corp. announced Friday third quarter earnings rose by 114 percent as record high oil prices provided a large boost to gross margins. However, the company did see a drop in production during the quarter.

The oil company posted third quarter profit of $7.89 billion or $3.85 a share, compared to $3.72 billion or $1.75 a share in the same period a year earlier. The result was well ahead of analyst estimates for earnings of $3.25 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue surged to $78.8 billion, up 43 percent from $55.2 billion last year.

The strong earnings news comes just a day after Exxon Mobil reported record breaking profits for the third quarter. The entire sector has topped earnings estimates of late. Royal Dutch Shell, Conoco Phillips and BP have all posted earnings to the upside.

Earnings from Chevron's oil exploration and production business rose 80 percent to $6.18 billion in the third quarter.

Total production did fall in the quarter, down 6 percent to 2.44 million barrels a day. Chevron reported $5.5 billion on capital and exploratory expenses, up from $5.2 billion last year.

"Our disciplined capital spending and tight control over costs remain extremely important in today's uncertain economic climate," CEO Dave O'Reilly said, according to MarketWatch. "Our strong balance sheet enables Chevron to continue investing in attractive projects that increase the production of oil and gas and improve the efficiency of our refinery network."

The company saw sales volumes for branded gasoline fall 7 percent from last year as overall demand began to contract during the summer.