Chevron profit tops Wall Street forecasts

By Matt Daily and Braden Reddall

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chevron's (CVX.N) quarterly profit more than doubled, easily beating Wall Street forecasts, as high oil prices and healthy refinery margins boosted its bottom line.

The third-quarter results from the second-largest U.S. oil company on Friday came a day after larger rival Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) also beat estimates and set another U.S. record for quarterly profits.

While smaller players have been forced to pare back investment, both majors will take advantage of their financial firepower and stick to their plans for capital spending, which totalled $15.8 billion (9.8 billion pounds) for Chevron in the first nine months of 2008.

"We anticipate trying to hold our capital expenditure pretty much in line with where we've been this year," said George Kirkland, vice president for Chevron's upstream and gas business. "We don't like fluctuating our capital spend up and down. Our long-term view on pricing has really not changed."

Investors are concerned that the credit crisis will trigger a global recession and cut energy demand, so the oil majors' spending plans are being carefully scrutinized.

Chevron's third quarter net income rose to $7.9 billion, or $3.85 per share, from $3.7 billion, or $1.75 per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 43 percent to $78.9 billion.

Analysts had expected a net income of $6.55 billion, or $3.27 a share, according to the average on Reuters Estimates.

Italy's Eni SpA (ENI.MI), another top-10 global oil company, reported on Friday a 53 percent rise in profit and said it would keep its capital spending steady.