TBT: The Brutal Truth

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Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that first-quarter earnings soared 44% from last year, due mainly to strong crude and natural gas prices. The company said it will boost its share repurchase rate by $1 billion in the second quarter.

Net income surged to $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share, from $5.44 billion, or 83 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding a $460 million gain on the sale of Exxon's stake in China Petroleum and Chemical, the company earned $1.15 per share in the latest quarter.

Total revenue climbed to $82.05 billion from $67.60 billion last year.

Royal Dutch/Shell comfortably beat analysts' forecasts to report a 28 percent rise in first-quarter profits on Thursday, helped by surging oil prices and strong refining margins.

Shell, the world's third-largest oil group, said it expected high oil prices to underpin its strong performance for the year ahead.

ConocoPhillips, the nation's third-largest oil and gas company, said today that first-quarter earnings soared year-over-year on high oil prices, though they were partially offset by unplanned downtime in the company's exploration and production unit.

Net income jumped to $2.91 billion, or $4.10 per share, from $1.62 billion, or $2.33 per share, a year ago. Total revenue was $38.9 billion, up from $30.2 billion last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for ConocoPhillips Co. to post earnings of $3.29 per share in the latest quarter.

"Overall, our performance for the quarter was good, and would have been stronger without unplanned downtime," said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer.

The president said he understands the pain consumers feel with such high gasoline prices. "Millions of American families and small businesses are hurting because of higher gasoline prices. My administration is doing everything we can to make gasoline more affordable." Still, he said that his plan would do little to lower prices in the short term.

Bush supports a mix of incentives, tax breaks and regulatory changes to increase domestic production of energy, including oil and several renewable fuels. The House recently passed a bill loaded with tax breaks for oil and gas companies, some of which Bush opposes. The Senate is considering its own plan.

posted by Sizemore at 3:41 AM