Exxon Mobil's Good Fortune

US oil giant and the biggest publicly traded energy company in the world, Exxon Mobil Corp., announced that its first-quarter profits surged 44 percent on the back of high oil and gas prices more than offset declining production.

The news Thursday was similar at Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos. and Marathon Oil Co., which also reported sharply higher profits despite a drop in production.
The latest batch of oil-industry earnings were in line with this week's results at BP PLC, which reported a 35 percent jump in profits, buoyed by higher oil and gas prices.