A Citizen’s Guide

JUNEAU—Alaska’s major oil producers have released their quarterly earnings, revealing that the companies continue to make profits unimaginable a few years ago.

While quarterly earnings reveal slightly declining profits, oil production profits are still going up.

Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’s been watching the oil company returns closely.

“They continue to make profits that were unimaginable just a few years ago,” he said.

Exxon Mobil Corp. Thursday announced a quarterly profit of $9.4 billion in the quarter ending Sept. 30, down from $10.5 billion in the same quarter last year. The Houston-based company, the largest in the world, had total revenues of $102 billion, as oil prices surged, up from $99.6 billion last year.

ConocoPhillips Co. earlier reported earnings of $3.7 billion, down from $3.9 billion the previous quarter. Alaska’s largest oil producer said a combination of higher oil prices helped it to offset a number of difficulties, including the loss of its Venezuela operations.

Less downtime than expected in its Alaska operations, and new production from the Alpine satellite fields on the North Slope contributed to strong earnings in Conoco’s Exploration and Production segment.

BP reported last week profits of $4.4 billion in the third quarter, down from $6.2 in he same quarter last year. Despite the decline in profits, total revenues climbed from $70.7 billion in the third quarter last year to $72.6 billion this year.

All three companies reported they benefited from higher oil prices during the quarter.

French said his calculations showed that Exxon was making $100 million in profits every day.