EARNINGS : Oil Firms’ Results Mixed; Occidental Profit Edges Up

Five major oil companies reported mixed quarterly results Monday.

Earnings were down at Exxon Corp., Phillips Petroleum Co. and Atlantic Richfield Co. Occidental Petroleum Corp. said earnings rose slightly. Amerada Hess Corp., bucking the trend, said earnings more than doubled.

Analysts said higher worldwide crude oil prices partly offset weaker refining margins due to a fall in gasoline prices.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM Net Totals $108 Million Los Angeles-based Occidental earned $108 million in the third quarter, up from $105 million a year earlier. Revenue declined 2% to $4.8 billion from $4.9 billion.

Occidental’s nine-month earnings dropped 14% to $255 million, compared to $295 million in the same 1988 period. Revenue rose 6% to $15 billion.

ARCO Profit Is Down 3% Los Angeles-based Arco earned $379 million in the quarter, down 3% from $391 million the year before. Arco’s revenue totaled $3.7 billion, down 20% from $4.6 billion in the 1988 third quarter.

Arco’s nine-month earnings rose 33% to $1.6 billion, compared to $1.2 billion a year earlier; revenue declined 13% to $12 billion.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM Income Declines 60% Phillips Petroleum’s earnings dropped 60% to $87 million from $215 million a year earlier. Revenue for the Bartlesville, Okla., company rose 7% to $3.1 billion from $2.9 billion.

For the nine months, Phillips earned $474 million, down 8% from $515 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 10% to $9.5 billion.

EXXON Income Drops 9% New York-based Exxon, the nation’s largest oil company, said it earned $1.1 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, down 9% from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Revenue totaled $23.6 billion, up 8% from last year’s $21.8 billion.

For the first nine months, earnings fell 34.5% to $2.54 billion from $3.88 billion. The lower nine-month earnings reflected the company’s provision for the March 24 Alaska oil spill.

AMERADA HESS Net More Than Triples

New York-based Amerada Hess’ third-quarter earnings jumped to $51.8 million from $15.8 million, reflecting much stronger refining and marketing segments that bucked the general trend in the industry. The company also benefited from unused tax credits of years past.

The third-quarter results included a charge of $30 million, associated with expenses from a refinery shutdown in the Virgin Islands during Hurricane Hugo.

Amerada Hess’ third-quarter revenue rose to $1.2 billion, up 28% from $925 million in the same 1988 period.

Amerada Hess’ nine-month earnings jumped to $406 million, from $57.9 million. Revenue totaled $4 billion, up 35%.