Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the second-largest U.S. oil company, said on Friday its first-quarter earnings rose 10 percent as record oil prices outweighed weak profits from gasoline production, Reuters reports.
Oil prices have soared more than five-fold since 2002 on surging demand from emerging economies, supply concerns and the weak dollar. They broke $100 a barrel for the first time during the first quarter and hit a record of nearly $120 earlier this week.
Chevron’s largest peers, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research), and BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), all posted sizable gains in the quarter, although Exxon’s results disappointed on weak production.
Chevron’s net income in the quarter rose to $5.17 billion, or $2.48 a share, from $4.72 billion, or $2.18 a share, last year. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn $2.41, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales and other revenue in the quarter rose 40 percent to $64.67 billion.
Benchmark U.S. oil prices averaged a record of nearly $98 a barrel during the quarter, up nearly 70 percent from a year earlier.
