High Prices Prompt Surge In Profits for Oil Companies

NEW YORK — Oil executive David Trice walked into the conference room at the Millennium Hotel off New York’s Times Square earlier this month, looked out at investors waiting to grill him about his company’s prospects, and grinned.

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“Cash is coming through the door, and under the door, and over the door,” said Trice, chief executive of Newfield Exploration Co., (NFX) who made “Earnings Do Matter” his slogan in a round of presentations to investors this quarter. He added that the company already has broken its annual profit record with three months still left in the year.

With natural gas at record highs and oil near the highest levels since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Trice isn’t the only oil CEO who is touting third-quarter profit increases. Chevron Corp. (CHV) and Texaco Inc. (TX) are expected to break the records for quarterly profits that they set in the second quarter.

Chevron is forecast to earn 75% more than a year earlier while Texaco will make 60% more.

For the full story, see the Oct. 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.