NEW YORK — Falling oil prices hardly seem to be bothering the two biggest U.S. oil companies. Exxon and Chevron leaned on strong performances from their refining operations to increase third-quarter profits despite plummeting global oil prices.
“Refining and chemicals can benefit from lower oil prices,” said Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones.
The global price of oil fell 18 percent from the beginning of the quarter to the end, and it cost both companies. Revenue slipped at Exxon by 4 percent and at Chevron by 8 percent.
But low oil and natural gas prices make for low raw material costs — and higher profit — for refining and chemical operations. Profit at Exxon’s refining and chemicals operations rose 38 percent over a year earlier, and Chevron’s profit from its so-called downstream operations more than tripled.
Those results helped Exxon’s earnings rise 3 percent in the quarter to $8.07 billion. Chevron’s earnings rose 13 percent to $5.59 billion.
