Exxon profit tops Wall Street, output up 8 pct

Exxon Mobil Corp. reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit on Thursday, as oil prices and margins to process crude into fuel rebounded from a year earlier and production rose. Conditions in the refining sector have improved in recent months, with business and consumer demand for diesel and gasoline rebounding. Crude oil prices have also climbed about 30 percent from a year ago, another factor that has contributed to higher profits in the second quarter for oil companies. "Production was really strong although it was more oriented to gas than oil," said Phil Weiss, oil analyst with Argus Research. "And like the other big oil companies, the refining results were also very strong." Profit in the quarter excluding items, was $7.56 billion, or $1.60 per share, compared with $4.09 billion, or 85 cents a year ago.