EXXON Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, yesterday reported an income that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a US corporation, earning US$14.83 billion in the third quarter.

Bolstered by this summer's record crude prices, the Irving, Texas-based company said net income jumped nearly 58 percent to US$2.86 a share in the July-September period.

That compares with US$9.41 billion, or US$1.70 a share, a year ago.

The previous record for US corporate profit was set in the last quarter, when Exxon Mobil earned US$11.68 billion.

Revenue rose 35 percent to US$137.7 billion.

On average, analysts expected the company to earn US$2.39 per share in the latest quarter on revenue of US$131.4 billion.

Exxon Mobil's results got an extra boost of US$1.62 billion in the most-recent quarter from the sale of a natural gas transportation business in Germany.

It also took a special, after-tax charge of US$170 million related to a punitive damages award related to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Excluding those items, third-quarter earnings amounted to US$13.38 billion - nearly 15 percent above its previous profit record from the second quarter.

As expected, Exxon Mobil posted massive earnings at its exploration and production, or upstream, arm, where net income rose 48 percent to US$9.35 billion.

Higher oil and natural gas prices propelled results, even though production was down from the third quarter a year ago.

Oil producers are now coming off a quarter during which crude prices reached an all-time high of US$147.27 - and their profits have reflected these gains.

Crude prices, however, have quickly fallen 50 percent from the summer's highs, and the global economic malaise has raised questions about worldwide energy demand at least into 2009.