Finland Times

The world's biggest two oil and gas producers, ExxonMobil and Chevron, both surprised investors Friday with higher profits in the third quarter, amid concerns that falling crude prices may thwart their Q3 performance.

ExxonMobil reported in a financial release that its third quarter earnings rose 3 percent, hitting 8.07 billion U.S. dollars, or 1.89 dollars per share. That compares to 7.87 billion dollars, or 1.79 dollars per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

The Texas-based company said its oil and gas production fell 4.7 percent in the period. Lower production, however, was offset by improvement in its refining and marketing segments.

CEO Rex Tillerson said in the release that the earnings growth was "driven by higher margins and improved operations in the downstream and chemical businesses," and had been "partially offset by the impact of lower upstream realizations."

Chevron, meanwhile, saw a staggering 13 percent increase in profits in the third quarter. The company posted earnings of 5.59 billion dollars, or 2.95 dollars per share, during the three-month period ending Sept. 30. That is up from 4.95 billion dollars, or 2.57 per share, during the same period last year.

The California-based corporation said the increase was due to its refining strength. Chevron's U.S. refining and downstream operations posted earnings that more than tripled from last year, thanks to the widening spread between the cost of crude and refined products and lower operating expenses.

A day earlier, the third-largest U.S. oil producer, ConocoPhillips, posted moderate gains in its third quarter profits. The Houston-based company reported earnings of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 2.17 dollars per share, compared with 2.5 billion dollars, or 2 dollars a share, in the same quarter last year.