Oil major Exxon Mobil has almost doubled its second quarterly net profit to $7.56bn, ahead of rivals BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
The Texas-based company's earnings beat analysts' estimates, jumping 91 per cent from $3.95bn in the same period last year, when oil prices were lower.
Attributed to a rise in production at its oil-fields in Qatar and Kazakhstan, its profits nearly match its earnings in July 2008 when the price of oil reached a record $147 a barrel, notes the Telegraph.
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said the rise in profits - the biggest since 2003 - was a result of "higher crude oil realizations, improved downstream margins, and strong chemical results", reports AFP. The company's oil-equivalent production is reported to have increased by 8 per cent.
Earnings from Exxon's chemicals business reached $1.37bn, up from about $1bn in the second quarter last year.
