Chevron

Chevron earned 9.9 billion dollars this quarter, nearly triple the 3.5 billion it made a year ago. Refining did much of the heavy lifting. That business earned 4.9 billion dollars, up from 1.1 billion last year, as its American refineries ran at nearly 98 percent of capacity and processed a record 1.09 million barrels a day.

The business brought in 16 billion dollars of cash this quarter, leaving 12 billion after paying for new projects. Chevron used it to cut net debt by 7.8 billion dollars and declared a quarterly dividend of 1.78 dollars per share. It is also reinvesting for growth, with its Venezuela partnerships planning to invest 7 billion dollars over five years, which could more than double production there.

Profits fell from 12.1 billion dollars last quarter to 9.9 billion as oil slid from about 104 dollars a barrel to 97. Today's prices are partly lifted by conflict in the Middle East, and if that eases, earnings could shrink quickly. Over the past full year, revenue actually slipped about 5 percent, a reminder that crude prices, not management, set the ceiling.

The Middle East conflict that is lifting prices is also hurting Chevron directly, helping push international production down 109,000 barrels a day from last year and overseas fuel sales down 9 percent. Its next big growth bets, in Venezuela and Libya, sit in politically risky places too. And over many years, the world is slowly shifting away from the fuel Chevron sells.