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Soaring energy prices and increased production helped Exxon Mobil shatter its previous record for quarterly profit as the oil and gas giant posted earnings Friday far ahead of even Wall Street’s most bullish estimates.

Shares in Exxon (ticker: XOM) surged 3% in premarket trading. The stock had ticked up almost 2% ahead of the release after peer Chevron (CVX) also reported an earnings beat and new profit record.

Exxon posted net income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $17.9 billion for the second quarter, delivering a profit of $4.21 a share. Wall Street had been expecting $15.2 billion in net income, or profit-per-share of $3.76. The nearly $18 billion in earnings represents a new quarterly record for Exxon, surpassing the previous high of $15.9 billion in 2012.

“Earnings and cash flow benefited from increased production, higher realizations, and tight cost control,” Darren Woods, the group’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

“We’re also helping meet increased demand by expanding our refining capacity by about 250,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2023—representing the industry’s largest single capacity addition in the U.S. since 2012,” Woods said.

Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com

Source: finance.yahoo.com