Exxon’s quarterly profit of $10.7 billion a record

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported a record quarterly profit of $10.7 billion yesterday, capping the most profitable year in U.S. corporate history.

The results pushed up Exxon’s profit for the year to a record $36.13 billion — bigger than the economies of 125 of the 184 countries ranked by the World Bank.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations, and Exxon shares rose, but some lawmakers expressed outrage at the industry’s latest profit surge, renewing calls for a windfall profits tax and increased investment in alternative fuels.

Exxon’s profit for the year was the largest annual reported net income in U.S. history, said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst for Standard & Poor’s. He said the previous high was Exxon’s $25.3 billion profit in 2004.

“What do you expect when you combine record oil and gas prices and strong operations everywhere else?” asked analyst Fadel Gheit at Oppenheimer & Co. “Unless prices collapse, earnings in 2006 will make 2005 look like a cakewalk.”

Annual revenue grew to $371 billion from $298.04 billion — exceeding Saudi Arabia’s estimated 2005 gross domestic product of $340.5 billion, according to statistics maintained by the CIA.

Exxon Mobil probably will dethrone Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from atop the Fortune 500 when it is released this spring. Wal-Mart, whose fiscal year runs through January, had $290.29 billion in revenue through December.

The company benefited from high oil and natural-gas prices and solid demand for refined products. Its average sale price for crude oil in the U.S. during the quarter was $52.23 a barrel, compared with $38.85 a year earlier. It sold natural gas in the U.S., on average, for $11.34 per 1,000 cubic feet, compared with $6.61 a year earlier.

Experts said there wasn’t much that could be done in the short term to lower the price of gasoline, which has been climbing and now hovers around $2.34 per gallon nationwide, $2.41 in the Washington area.

“As long as demand stays high, people will have to pay more,” said David E. Dismukes, an energy economist and associate director of Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies.

“Exxon is the most efficient operator in a market characterized by rampant demand and lagging supply growth,” Derek Vogler, who helps manage $11 billion, including Exxon Mobil shares, at Country Trust Bank in Bloomington, Ill., told Bloomberg News recently.

Exxon’s vice president of investor relations, Henry Hubble, said that while strong commodity prices clearly helped drive the record earnings, the company deserved credit for its ability to complete projects on time while keeping costs in check.

“We continue to identify world-class projects, post industry-leading returns, and are well-placed for continued growth,” Mr. Hubble told analysts. “Our record results show a disciplined approach, and we continue to deliver superior value to our shareholders.”

Quarterly revenue ballooned to $99.66 billion from $83.37 billion a year ago but came in shy of the $100.72 billion Exxon posted in the third quarter, which was the first time a U.S. public company generated more than $100 billion in sales in a single quarter.

Exxon’s results lifted the combined 2005 profits for the country’s three largest integrated oil companies to more than $63 billion.

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