Chevron 3Q Profit Falls by More Than $1B By Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) -- Chevron Corp.'s third-quarter profit plunged even further than analysts feared, driven by the second largest U.S. oil company's inability to recover its higher refining costs at the gasoline pump.The San Ramon-based company said Friday that it earned $3.72 billion, or $1.75 per share, for the three months ended in September. That represented a 26 percent decline from net income of $5.02 billion, or $2.29 per share, at the same time last year.

Analysts were bracing for a lower profit, but the erosion was worse than their average earnings estimate of $2.07 per share, based on a poll by Thomson Financial.

Revenue growth also was lackluster during the quarter, edged up just 2 percent to $55.2 billion.

Investors expressed their disappointment as Chevron shares fell $1.27 to $87.77 in morning trading Friday.

Chevron Chairman David O'Reilly blamed the earnings letdown mostly on gas prices that lagged the company's higher costs for crude oil -- the main ingredient in petroleum.n a change from recent years, the United States had an ample supply of gasoline during the third quarter. While that was good news for motorists as summertime gasoline prices remained relatively stable, it stung Chevron and its industry peers as their oil costs climbed.

The conditions saddled Chevron with a $110 million loss in its U.S. division that refines and sells gasoline. That was a dramatic reversal of fortune from last year when the same division earned $831 million.

Chevron also was negatively affected by reduced refining capacity. Besides shutting down part of its El Segundo, Calif. refinery for planned maintenance, Chevron lost some production after a mid-August fire at its Mississippi refinery. Chevron doesn't expect to fully repair the Mississippi refinery until next year.

As usual, Chevron made most of its money from oil production, but not as much as it did last year. The company's worldwide profit in its so-called "upstream" operations slipped 2 percent to $3.43 billion, a downturn that management attributed the downturn to lower production and higher operating expenses during the quarter.

Chevron produced an average of 2.6 million barrels of oil per day, down by about 100,000 barrels per day from last year.

Third-quarter profits at most of the world's other major publicly traded oil companies also fell during the quarter, ranging from a 5 percent decline at ConocoPhillips to a 29 percent drop at BP PLC.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC broke the trend with a 16 percent increase in its third-quarter profit, but the company said refining margins were weaker than the results made it appear.