Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday that its first-quarter profit hit a record thanks to higher crude prices and increased production.

Occidental reported net income of $1.85 billion ($2.23 per share), a 52 percent increase from $1.21 billion ($1.43) in the same period a year earlier beating analysts’ expectations of $1.98 per share, according to Thomson Financial.

Sales for the Los Angeles-based oil company also rose 50 percent to $6.02 billion, missing Wall Street’s expectations of $6.28 billion.

Occidental said that it was paid 68 percent more for its oil in the first quarter than a year earlier. Oil futures hit a record Tuesday of $119.90 a barrel.

The company’s production increased 8.4 percent year-over-year thanks in part to its Dolphin project in the Middle East which produced about 55,000 barrels of oil per day.

The earnings also included a gain of $27 million from a tax payment made by Ecuador earlier this month.

Shares in Occidental were down 1 percent to $83.57 in early trading Thursday.