Soaring oil prices push Exxon to record profit
Houston, Texas- Soaring oil prices have pushed Exxon Mobil to a record profit for the second quarter of 2008, with the world's largest publicly-traded oil company on Thursday posting a 14-per-cent rise in net income to 11.7 billion dollars.
Representing the largest-ever quarterly profit for a US company, the rise mirrors strong quarterly performances by European competitors BP and Shell.
Revenue meanwhile climbed to 138.1 billion dollars for the period, up 40 per cent on Q2 2007, the Houston-based energy giant said in a statement.
The figures however come in below analysts' expectations, with Exxon shares remaining under pressure.
Exxon's entire oil and gas output sank by more than 10 per cent for the quarter, with the search for new exploitable resources becoming more difficult and costly across the energy sector.
Second-largest US oil firm Chevron is to release its Q2 results Friday. (dpa)