Chevron profit rises

No 2 US oil company Chevron Corp on Friday posted a 12 percent rise in quarterly profit on the back of record crude oil prices, but damage and production outages from recent hurricanes dragged results below Wall Street forecasts.
Chevron, fresh off a bruising battle over the summer to acquire smaller rival Unocal Corp, also warned that hurricane costs would hit results in the fourth quarter.
Chevron is the No 1 operator in the Gulf of Mexico shelf region and also has significant operations in deeper waters.
The rise in Chevron's profits were more muted than those reported by some of its peers this week, as the energy sector enjoys a windfall from record crude oil prices that touched $70 a barrel and sharply higher refining margins.
Chevron's net income rose to $3.6 billion, or $1.64 a share, in the third quarter, compared to $3.2 billion, or $1.51 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. That was below the average forecast of $1.85 a share by analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Larger rival Exxon Mobil posted a 75 percent surge in profit to a record $9.9 billion. Royal Dutch Shell reported a 68 percent rise in profit while BP Plc's profits jumped 27 percent.
The record profits prompted lawmakers to intensify calls for a windfall profits tax or other penalties.
"Most of (Chevron's) earnings miss was in the upstream and was caused by weak US oil and gas volumes (hurricanes, declines) plus lower than expected US gas realisations, as well as weak European gas volumes," Credit Suisse First Boston said in a research note.
"None of these items is unique to Chevron this quarter, but the bottom line result will still be seen as disappointing," CSFB said.
Chevron shares were down 2.65 percent, or $1.50 a share, to $55 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms in the Gulf of Mexico cut third-quarter earnings by more than $600 million, and the carry-over effects on fourth-quarter results would be even more significant, Chevron said.
The storms cut crude oil and natural gas production in the third quarter by about 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and the company's refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was shut for about 40 days.