LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Exxon's third-quarter profit rose to $10.33 billion, or $2.13 a share, from $7.35 billion, or $1.44, a year earlier. The per-share result was in line with the average estimate of 19 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Sales rose 32 percent to stratospheric $125 billion.

These profits came in light of a downturn in gasoline production. Oil and natural-gas production fell 3.8 percent to the equivalent of 4.28 million barrels of crude a day, the largest decline since the third quarter of 2008.

"These guys keep pushing the oil out and selling it like it's going out of style," Douglas Ober, who manages $1.6 billion at Adams Express Co. and Petroleum & Resources Corp. in Baltimore, said.

One would have to reach all the way back to 2008 for a period when Exxon's quarterly profits exceeded $10 billion for three consecutive periods. For 2011, Exxon shares have risen 11 percent, poised for the best annual performance since 2007.

However, Exxon's strong performance was still well below its profit of $14.83 billion in the third quarter of 2008. That's a corporate record for quarterly profits.

Today, Exxon's profits are on track to do even better in the fourth quarter, since oil prices have increased more than 13% over the last month.

Brent crude futures, the benchmark for two-thirds of the world's oil, jumped 46 percent during the July-through-September period to average $112.09 a barrel.

Exxon plans to spend as much as $37 billion this year to find untapped oil and natural-gas reserves, construct gas-export terminals and expand refineries and chemical plants.

Exxon shares rose less than one percent to $81.52 at 9:42 a.m. in New York. The stock has 14 buy recommendations from analysts, 11 holds and two sells.

Exxon's crude output fell 7.1 percent to 2.25 million barrels a day, led by declines in Africa, the U.S. and Europe. The company has since raised gas output in Europe and the U.S.

Refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities consume 90.24 million barrels of oil a day during the current quarter, a 0.6 percent increase from a year earlier.

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