Pulling oil from the ground is proving to be more profitable than getting drivers to fill up their cars and trucks with gasoline and diesel fuel.
Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, the No. 1 and No. 3 oil companies in the U.S., said Thursday that first-quarter profit jumped because oil prices were substantially higher than a year ago. That was more than enough to offset losses both had from their struggling refining businesses, which have been unable to pass along all of their costs for higher crude prices to consumers.
Exxon’s U.S. downstream operations, which include refineries, lost $60 million in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $352 million a year ago. ConocoPhillips’ refining and marketing business lost $4 million in the quarter. In the same quarter of 2009, it had a profit of $205 million.
Oil companies are becoming more profitable as the price of crude has skyrocketed from $33 a barrel in the first quarter of last year to above $85 a barrel Thursday.
Exxon said its first-quarter profit climbed 38 percent to $6.3 billion from $4.55 billion a year ago. ConocoPhillips said its profit more than doubled to $2.1 billion. A year ago, the company made $840 million.
U.S. petroleum consumption fell in the first quarter for the third year in a row, according to the Energy Information Administration.
