HOUSTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Exxon Mobil, world's largest oil and gas company, has posted a 50 percent jump in earnings in the third quarter, even after absorbing the blow from Hurricane Harvey, which crippled some of its Gulf Coast facilities.
"A 50 percent increase in earnings through solid business performance and higher commodity prices is a step forward in our plan to grow profitability," Exxon Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said Friday in a statement.
The Texas oil company earned 93 cents per share in the July-September period, up from 63 cents per share in the same three months last year. Revenues jumped 13 percent, from 58.7 billion dollars to 66.2 billion dollars.
Exxon boosted capital and exploration spending by 43 percent to nearly 6 billion dollars as projects that were too expensive to be profitable last year became lucrative amid higher oil prices.
The company collected 1.6 billion dollars in its oil and gas production business, up by 947 million dollars because of higher energy prices. The company's output rose 2 percent to 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Hurricane Harvey cost the company 160 million dollars when it disabled two major downstream facilities. But the refining business still made 1.5 billion dollars in the quarter, up 303 million dollars. The chemical business, also impacted by the hurricane, earned 1.1 billion dollars, down by 79 million dollars.
