Chevron Corp, the second-largest US oil company, reported a 43 percent jump in quarterly profit on Friday, beating Wall Street forecasts as high oil prices and fat refinery margins offset a drop in its oil output. Chevron's surging earnings were the latest in a string of huge profits reported this week by the industry that has benefited from the highest oil prices in nearly three years.
Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell both reported higher earnings this week, boosted by their acquisitions and shifts into new projects. Chevron's better-than-expected profit was largely due to a strong performance by its US and international refineries, which both topped forecasts, according to Fadel Gheit, analyst with Oppenheimer & Co.
Still, the oil and gas production business yielded nearly 90 percent of the company's profits. "This is the most leveraged company to oil price in the whole group," Gheit said. Chevron's second-quarter profit rose to $7.7 billion, or $3.85 per share, from $5.4 billion, or $2.70 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected the company to post earnings of $3.56 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.