Exxon Posts 32% Rise in Profit as Oil Consumption Grows

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest publicly traded oil producer, said Thursday that second-quarter net income rose 32% to $7.64 billion as growing economies in Asia and North America consumed more crude and gasoline.

The quarterly profit was the third-highest in the company’s 123-year history. Revenue rose 25% to $88.6 billion, a record for a public company. A doubling in oil prices since 2003 has put Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil on pace to pass Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in sales this year.

Earnings from oil and natural gas sales jumped 28% to $4.9 billion. The gap between crude costs and prices for refined fuels was the widest ever, as consumption rose faster than supplies. Exxon Mobil’s refining profit surged 34%.

Net income climbed to $1.20 a share from 88 cents, or $5.79 billion, a year earlier, Exxon Mobil said. Chief Executive Lee Raymond is investing in oil and gas fields in Africa and the Middle East as demand grows and output declines from older wells in Europe and North America. The company pumps more oil than any member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries except Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Exxon Mobil increased its 2005 spending plan by 6.3% to $17 billion because of rising costs to develop projects in Nigeria and elsewhere.

Soaring demand for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and chemicals helped boost U.S. crude oil futures to a second-quarter average of $53.22 a barrel, more than making up for a decline in Exxon Mobil’s worldwide output. The company said it produced the equivalent of 3.91 million barrels of oil a day, down 4.3% from a year earlier.

Exxon Mobil shares rose 40 cents to $60.

Excluding costs of $200 million related to a lawsuit by filling-station owners, profit was $1.23 a share, Exxon Mobil said. That was 1 cent less than the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Exxon Mobil and other oil companies may benefit from $2.6 billion in subsidies in the energy bill that is nearing passage in Congress.