Exxon Mobil’s third quarter earnings fell 65 per cent, as oil prices tumbled and the recession hit fuel demand.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company reported profits of $4.73 million (£2.9 million), or 98 cents per share, for the quarter ending September 30 — well below the $1.03 per share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The company, which depends on oil and gas production for more than two thirds of its earnings, increased petroleum production by 3 per cent from the same period last year, with the start up of new liquefied natural gas facilities in Qatar.

Revenue fell to $82.26 billion from $137.7 billion a year earlier.

Lower crude oil and natural gas prices accounted for the bulk of the fall. Crude-oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $118 a barrel in the third quarter of 2008, when Exxon's $14.83 billion in earnings then set a record for profit from recurring business by a US company. But oil prices averaged $68 for the quarter just ended.

Exxon is also exposed to the refining business, where margins have been squeezed by lower prices for natural gas and oil.

The company said in a statement that despite ongoing global economic weakness and reduced demand it was continuing with its ambitious capital-spending program, on its expectations that energy demand would rebound when the economy recovers.

Although it has invested $19 billion to develop new energy supplies in the first three quarters of the year, capital spending in the third quarter fell 5 per cent to $6.49 billion compared with the same period last year.

Directors declared a dividend of 42 cents per share on the common stock, payable on December 10, 2009.

Shares fell 1.4 per cent in pre-market trading to $72.84.

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