Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil beat analysts expectations and set new profit records for the third quarter as it reported net income of $14.83 billion – a 58% increase from the same quarter last year.
"ExxonMobil’s strong results in the third quarter of 2008 demonstrate the continuedsuccess of our disciplined business approach,” said ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
ExxonMobil’s net income for the first nine months of 2008 is $37.40 billion, up 29%, or $8.45 billion, from the first nine months last year. The company set a record profit of more than $40 billion last year, though some analysts are uncertain if it will surpass that number this year given the decline in oil demand and the drop in oil prices.
Other oil giants posted strong reports of third-quarter earnings this week, too.
San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron reported net income of $7.9 billion for the quarter ending Sept. 30, as compared to the $3.7 billion the company posted for the same quarter last year. For the first nine months this year, Chevron’s net income is $19 billion, up from the $13.8 billion in the same nine-month period last year.
Royal Dutch Shell said its third-quarter 2008 earnings, on a current cost of supplies basis, were $10.9 billion, compared to $6.4 billion a year ago.
Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said the company “delivered satisfactory earnings and operating performance in the third quarter of 2008. We are watching the world economic situation closely. Shell is robust across a wide range of energy prices. Our strategy remains to pay competitive and progressive dividends, and to make significant investments in the company for future profitability."
The Board of Royal Dutch Shell announced this week that Peter Voser will succeed Jeroen van der Veer as CEO effective July 2009. Voser, 50, is chief financial officer and a director of the board since October 2004.
Voser joined the Royal Dutch/Shell Group in 1982 and has held a number of finance and business roles in Switzerland, Argentina, Chile and the UK until March 2002. He joined Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) Ltd as Chief Financial Officer, but returned to Shell four years ago.
The Associated Press reported that the big five oil companies – Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips – posted a collective $44.4 billion in profit for the third-quarter 2008, a 58% jump from the same quarter a year ago.
