Business News and Information

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) reported the second largest quarterly profit ever posted by a publicly traded American company--$10.49 billion. Coincidentally, the largest profit on record was also reported by ExxonMobil--$10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

High oil and natural-gas prices paired with a strong demand for energy made for a rather robust third quarter not only for Exxon but for the industry as a whole.

Costs in the search for new supplies led to a sharp fall in net income for competitor Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B) as did costs involved with unrest in Nigeria. Oil producers face many rising costs from equipment and contractors. Despite costs and spending Shell's results are better than what anyalysts had forecast and still compare favorably with their main British rival, BP Global (BP).