(Reuters) -ConocoPhillips posted third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as the Texas-based oil and gas producer benefited from higher production, sending its shares up over 1% at $104.07 in premarket trading.
Commodity price volatility took centerstage in the past few months, driven by several factors including the escalating conflict in the Middle East, weak China demand, rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and OPEC actions.
Benchmark Brent crude averaged $78.3 a barrel in the reported quarter, nearly 9% lower than last year, but still favorable enough for oil and gas producers to drill profitably.
Production for the quarter stood at 1.92 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 6% from 1.8 million boepd in the year-ago quarter.
On an adjusted basis, ConocoPhillips reported a profit of $1.78 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.64 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
