Exxon Profit Flat; Unocal Income Up 53% in Period : Energy: Rising crude prices were a big factor at both companies.

Exxon Corp., the nation’s largest oil company, posted flat third-quarter earnings Wednesday and said rising crude oil prices from the Persian Gulf crisis caused its refining and marketing operations to lose money.

While revenue rose 23% from a year earlier to $29.0 billion, Exxon said net income was unchanged at $1.08 billion. The losses in refining and marketing were offset by increased income from oil exploration and production.

“In the two-month period following the beginning of the current crisis in the Middle East, refining and marketing in the U.S. operated at a loss because marketplace competition prevented full recovery of crude price increases,” Exxon Chairman Lawrence Rawl said in a prepared statement.

Other oil companies in recent days have also said earnings were hurt because they were unable to pass through to consumers the entire increase in crude oil prices.

While the higher oil prices since Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait has generally helped oil producers, companies such as Exxon and Mobil with large refining and marketing operations have not benefited as much.

Separately, Unocal Corp. reported a 53% rise in earnings that it attributed largely to the higher prices for crude oil, which helped its production business.

The Los Angeles-based company posted net earnings for the third quarter of $121 million on revenue that climbed 9% to $3.07 billion.