Exxon sets record in 2007 with $40 billion profit

HOUSTON -- Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company -- $40.6 billion -- on Friday as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at the end of the year.

Exxon also set a U.S. record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, beating its own mark of $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil had in 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, they hovered around $90 a barrel, more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

Crude prices reached an all-time trading high of $100.09 on Jan. 3 but have fallen about 10 percent since then.

The record profit for the October-December period amounted to $2.13 a share versus $1.76 a share in 2006. Year-ago net income was $10.25 billion.

Also extraordinary was Exxon Mobil's revenue, which rose 30 percent in the fourth quarter to $116.6 billion from $90 billion a year ago. For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion -- the most ever for the Irving, Texas-based company -- from $377.64 billion in 2006.

In addition to benefiting from higher commodity prices, the company said its results were evidence of a well-run, globally diverse operation that's investing billions to find more energy supplies. It noted its capital and exploration spending amounted to nearly $21 billion last year, up 5 percent from 2006.

Exxon Mobil produces about 3 percent of the world's oil.

Its shares fell 45 cents to $85.95 Friday after rising as high as $87.86 earlier in the session. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $69.02 to $95.27.

ConocoPhillips has said record oil prices at the end of 2007 helped it post a 37 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, even as it produced less crude and natural gas than a year earlier. Its quarterly net income rose to $4.37 billion versus $3.2 billion a year earlier.

ConocoPhillips is the nation's third-largest integrated oil company behind Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp.

Chevron reported separately Friday its profit rose 29 percent in the fourth quarter. It earned $4.88 billion, or $2.32 per share, from $3.77 billion, or $1.74 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 29 percent to $61.41 billion from $47.75 billion.

On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, posted a 60 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit to $8.47 billion on asset sales and higher oil prices. Shell said full-year net profit was a company record $31.3 billion, up 23 percent from the prior year.