NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil said Thursday its first-quarter profit jumped 44 percent from a year ago to 7.86 billion dollars as surging crude prices and other factors lifted income.
The world's biggest oil and gas company said exploration and production and refining and marketing improved, and chemicals income set a record.
The profit amounted to 1.22 dollars per share, but excluding one-time gains, it was 1.15 dollars, below the average Wall Street forecast.
Revenues for the January-March period jumped 22.4 percent from the same period in 2004, to 82.05 billion dollars.
The results included a 460-million-dollar gain from the sale of the stake in China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).
The profit was the highest ever for the first quarter for Exxon Mobil and reflects the recent surge in crude oil prices.
04/28/2005 13:02 GMT