Texaco Jumps 35% in Quarter

Texaco Inc. reported a 35% jump in fourth-quarter earnings today, boosted by crude oil prices that soared due to the Persian Gulf crisis.

Like its rivals Mobil Corp. and Amoco Corp., which have also reported earnings this week, Texaco said its “upstream”--or exploration and production--profits surged in the months after the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

“During the second half of the year, upstream earnings showed strong increases as a result of the escalation of crude prices,” said James Kinnear, Texaco’s president and chief executive officer.

Texaco is the nation’s third-largest oil company, after Exxon and Mobil. Texaco’s fourth-quarter net income was $388 million, or $1.40 a share, compared to $287 million, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier.