Exxon Reports $8.4 Billion Profit

(CBS/AP)  With the price of gas skyrocketing and political leaders of both parties calling for emergency relief measures, another oil company reported massive profits Thursday morning.

Exxon Mobil Corp. made an $8.4 billion profit in the first quarter – that's a 7 percent increase over last year.

Net income rose to $1.37 per share for the January-March period from $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were actually looking for an even higher profit of $1.47 per share, and shares fell $1.20, or almost 2 percent, in pre-market trading.

Revenue grew to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion a year earlier. Higher crude oil and natural gas prices and improved marketing margins were partly offset by lower chemical margins.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil is the world's largest publicly traded oil company. In January, it posted the highest quarterly and annual profits of any U.S. company in history: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the full year.

ConocoPhillips announced record profits yesterday, but it's no doubt not the last. On Friday Chevron is expected to announce Close to $4 billion in profits.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, is spending millions of dollars in newspaper and television ads to convince Americans that their profits have nothing to do with higher gas prices, CBS News correspondent Byron Pitts reports.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute told Pitts that the industry can't lower their profits because they have a responsibility to their shareholders.

"All of the companies here in the U.S. that deal with the consumer are investor-owned companies... The responsibility of the management there is to insure that that they are providing for shareholder return."

ConocoPhillips' net income jumped to $3.29 billion, or $2.34 per share for the January-March period, from $2.91 billion, or $2.05 per share, in the year-earlier period. Those results were in line with analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Financial.

Revenue at ConocoPhillips grew to $47.9 billion in the first quarter from $38.9 billion last year. The company said higher oil prices were partially tempered by lower natural gas prices compared with the fourth quarter.

Fadel Gheit, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., said things will only get better for the company, citing its $33.9 billion acquisition of Burlington Resources completed March 31.