Exxon Mobil said today its third-quarter earnings declined 10 per cent on sharply dropping profits from the production of gasoline and lower gas prices.
Exxon's shares fell about 2 per cent and weighed on the wider market, pushing S&P futures to session lows.
Margins to produce and sell gasoline and other refined products fell sharply during the quarter, accounting for more than two-thirds of the drop-off in profits from last year.
Net income at the world's largest publicly traded company fell to $9.41 billion, or $1.70 a share, from $10.49 billion, or $1.77 a share, a year earlier.
Refining margins plummeted by as much as 90 per cent from record highs reached in May as the summer driving season ended. Oil prices surged, and gasoline prices did not keep up with the price increases.
These reduced profits have also dragged down earnings at Exxon's largest competitors BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Conocophillips, offsetting oil prices that were much higher than a year before.
The margins have remained tight in the fourth quarter, threatening to hold back earnings even as US crude prices have surged over $90 a barrel.