HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said profit rose 41 percent after gains in petroleum prices more than made up for a drop in production.

Third-quarter net income climbed to $5.19 billion, or $3.39 a share, from $3.67 billion, or $2.23, a year earlier, the Houston-based company said on Wednesday in a statement. Excluding such items as a divestiture gain, per-share profit was about $3.32, 13 cents higher than the average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Revenue jumped 52 percent to $70 billion after New York oil futures surged above $147 a barrel in July to a record. The average futures price in the quarter was 57 percent higher than a year earlier. ConocoPhillips is the biggest natural-gas producer in the U.S., so it benefited as gas traded 44 percent higher than in last year’s third quarter. Oil traded last week below $70 for the first time since August 2007.
“Prices held up pretty good during the quarter, but obviously going forward will be a little different,” said Matti Teittinen, an analyst with IHS Herold in Boston.
ConocoPhillips is the first among the three biggest U.S. oil producers to report earnings for the third quarter. Exxon Mobil Corp. of Irving, Texas, is scheduled to release its results on Oct. 30, and San Ramon, California-based Chevron Corp. reports the following day.
---------------------Gustav, Ike
“I think across the board you’re going to see relatively strong numbers for the integrated energy companies with high commodity prices,” said Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in Des Peres, Missouri, who has a “buy” rating on ConocoPhillips shares and doesn’t own any.
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike idled and damaged wells in the Gulf of Mexico during the third quarter as the storms headed toward the Louisiana and Texas coasts. The storms reduced third- quarter production at ConocoPhillips by about 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, according to an Oct. 2 statement.
Production averaged the equivalent of 1.75 million barrels of oil a day, the company said. ConocoPhillips pumped 1.76 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in last year’s third quarter. Output will be higher in the current quarter and will average slightly below 1.8 million barrels a day for the full year, Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulva said in the statement.
International oil producers are struggling to shore up production and reserves as countries from Venezuela to Russia reduce foreign access to their resources and established fields become depleted.
-------------------‘Growth-Challenged’
“They all remain growth-challenged, and they have the challenge now of lower commodity prices,” Youngberg said.
Market indicators for fuel prices and crude costs show third-quarter profit margins for U.S. refiners narrowed by 4.5 percent from a year earlier to $14.07 per barrel of oil processed, ConocoPhillips said Oct. 2. The company got almost half of its profit from refining last year.
ConocoPhillips ranks behind only San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. in U.S. oil-processing capacity.
The earnings statement was issued before the opening of regular trading on U.S. markets. ConocoPhillips fell $3.77 to $53.96 on Tuesday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.