Oil giants Chevron Corp and Total SA wrapped up a string of gargantuan, record-breaking earnings reports Friday, a stretch in which six of the major international oil companies topped US$50 billion in combined profit for the first time.

While the profits of unparalleled size have brought withering criticism from Washington and disgust from consumers across the country, very few were surprised. Crude prices during the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago.

Chevron said Friday its second-quarter profit rose 11 per cent to a record US$5.98 billion.

Shares fell

Revenue rose significantly to US$82.9 billion from US$56.1 billion a year ago.

But results for the second-largest US oil company missed Wall Street forecasts and shares fell.

Like its competitors, Chevron made the bulk of its money at its exploration and production arm, also known as the upstream, where income nearly doubled from a year ago to US$7.25 billion.

Chevron said the average sales price for crude and natural gas liquids was US$109 a barrel in the quarter, up from US$57 a barrel in the year-earlier period.

In addition to Chevron, soaring commodity prices led to record quarters for Exxon Mobil Corp, ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Exxon Mobil stood apart even from this crowd, logging the largest ever quarterly operating profit for a US company.

Barring companies that made huge profits on one-time gains like bankruptcy settlements and spin-offs, Exxon Mobil holds the top 10 records for biggest US quarterly earnings.

French energy company Total SA said Friday its profit climbed 38.7 per cent in the second quarter to US$7.38 billion.

Quarterly sales rose 23 per cent to US$75.25 billion.

Altogether, the profits of the six companies jumped more than 40 per cent in the second quarter to US$51.5 billion, the first time big Western oil companies have ever reached that level.

Total's earnings were at the top end of analysts' expectations.

Unlike some other oil majors, Total reported production growth of 1.3 per cent in the second quarter.

Also Friday, Norway's state-controlled StatoilHydro ASA reported a 37 per cent rise in second-quarter net profits to $3.7 billion.