Mobil’s Net Income Plummets 43%

Mobil Corp., the nation’s second-largest oil company, said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings fell 43% to $252 million from the same period of 1986 reflecting the continuing impact of the 1986 oil price collapse.

Revenue declined 8.6% to $12.7 billion.

Although crude prices rose during the first quarter, profit at the “downstream,” or refining and marketing end, declined because of rising crude prices coupled with pressure on product prices due to high inventories, Chairman Allen E. Murray said.

“In 1986, crude prices dropped dramatically, while product prices declined more slowly, resulting in significantly higher margins,” Murray added.

Mobil said its chemical operations and Montgomery Ward subsidiary both posted record earnings during the quarter, while the company as a whole benefited from continuing administrative consolidations.

Murray said Mobil’s first-quarter domestic petroleum earnings fell 55% from a year earlier, while foreign petroleum profits fell 20%.