Strong Oil Demand Drives Exxon's (NYSE:XOM) Profits

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) beat expectations in the fourth quarter, as strong demand for oil pushed up the revenue and earnings for the company.

Revenue surged 17 percent in the fourth quarter, jumping to $105.2 billion, or earnings of $1.85 a share, a huge 23 cents a share better than the $1.62 a share analysts had estimated. Analysts had an estimate of $99.1 billion on revenue.

Exxon's Chairman Rex Tillerson said in a statement, “ExxonMobil continues to deliver strong financial and operating results. The full year 2010 earnings, excluding special items, were $30.5 billion, up 57 percent from 2009, driven by higher crude oil and natural gas realizations, stronger refining margins and record Chemical performance. Fourth quarter earnings were $9.3 billion, an increase of 53 percent."

Oil prices in the quarter rose by 12 percent, while Exxon's production grew 19 percent.

For all of 2010, revenue soared to $383 billion, a gain of 32 percent. Earnings for the year came in at $30.5 billion, or 6.22 a share, a huge increase over the $19.3 billion, or 3.98 a share in 2009.

Exxon was trading at $80.26, up $1.30, or 1.61 percent, as of 12:24 PM EST.