ExxonMobil 2Q profit falls a surprising 66%

NEW ORLEANS -- ExxonMobil said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell a surprising 66% from a year ago, as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, like the rest of the industry, saw crude and gas prices fall sharply and refining margins tighten.

Excluding one-time items, net income in the most-recent quarter amounted to $4.09 billion, or 84 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Reuters were looking for net income of $1.02 a share. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue fell 46% to $74.5 billion from $138.1 billion a year ago. Analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of about $71.3 billion, Reuters said.

Yet the size of Exxon's decline is sure to catch investors off guard.

This time last year crude was in the triple digits after a historic ride to almost $150 a barrel. Prices eventually dipped into the $30s in January but have doubled in recent months amid some signs of recovery from the worst recession in a generation.

"Global economic conditions continue to impact the energy industry both in the volatility of commodity prices and reduced demand for products," ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said.

Oil giants like ExxonMobil are still notching billions of dollars in profits, but topping last year's mammoth numbers is almost unthinkable unless crude goes on another unprecedented ascent. That's unlikely given the state of the global economy.