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ConocoPhillips Profits Jump 41% In 3rd Quarter

Associated Press photo

Clouds hover over Conoco signs at a service station in Glenrock, Wyo.

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By JOHN PORRETTO

The Associated Press

Published: October 23, 2008

HOUSTON - It's looking like a good year for big oil - again.

ConocoPhillips, the first of the major oil companies to report earnings for the third quarter, said profits soared 41 percent as crude prices soared to record highs over the summer. The numbers posted by the third-largest U.S. oil company easily topped Wall Street forecasts.

But the Houston-based company said 2008 production will likely fall short of 2007 levels, in part from this summer's hurricanes.

ConocoPhillips said net income for the July-September period rose to $5.18 billion, or $3.39 per share, from $3.67 billion, or $2.23 per share, during the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose nearly 52 percent to $70 billion from $46.1 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting earnings of $3.06 per share.

Oil prices slipped below $69 a barrel Wednesday amid fears the United States may be headed for a severe economic slowdown that would crimp demand for crude.

Exxon Mobil Corp., BP and Chevron Corp., among others, are scheduled to report results next week. Like ConocoPhillips, most are expected to post huge profits, given the unprecedented cost of oil.

Crude oil reached a peak of $147.27 in mid-July but has fallen more than 50 percent since then.

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