Chevron profit rises 9.5% on higher oil prices

NEW YORK -- The second-largest U.S. oil company earned $5.17 billion, or $2.48 a share, up from $4.72 billion, or $2.18 a share, a year earlier.

Analysts expected the company to earn $2.41 a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Chevron said revenue rose to $65.95 billion, from $48.23 billion. Analysts predicted revenue of $75.64 billion.

Chevron produced the equivalent of 2.6 million barrels of oil a day in the quarter, down 44,000 from a year ago.

Benchmark U.S. oil prices averaged a record of nearly $98 a barrel during the quarter, up nearly 70% from a year earlier.

But margins to produce gasoline have plummeted, with refiners struggling to push through higher crude costs to customers. First-quarter gasoline prices rose only 33% year over year in the U.S. — less than half crude's rise.

Profits from the company's exploration and production unit rose 76% to $5.13 billion, while earnings from refining and marketing plunged 84% to $252 million.

Contributing: Reuters