Oil Companies See Profits Rise

The New York Times reports:

Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell reported hefty increases in their first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by higher oil prices and earnings from refining.

Exxon Mobil, the largest American oil company, said net income rose 69 percent to $10.7 billion, or $2.14 a share, in the first three months of this year, from $6.3 billion, or $1.33 a share, in the same period last year.

The earnings beat some analysts’ expectations, and marked the fifth quarter in a row that Exxon reported an earnings increase.

Shell reported earlier on Thursday that its profit for the period rose 30 percent.

Oil companies are benefiting from a rise of more than 30 percent of the price of oil over the last twelve months. Concerns about political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East had pushed up prices to heights some analysts said were not justified by the level of demand. Continued growth in economic demand is expected to support a relatively high price of oil but there are signs that rising gasoline prices are keeping some consumers in the United States from filling up their tanks.

Exxon’s earnings “reflect continued leadership in operational performance during a period of strong commodity prices,” said Exxon’s chairman Rex W. Tillerson in a statement.