Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $10.36 billion in the April-June period, the second largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.

The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices and the growing global appetite for fuel helped boost the company's revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record. Its shares briefly rose to a new high.

"We continue to see demand growth year over year," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations told analysts. "We're selling everything we can make."

Of course, gas is three bucks. It's like movies making a fortune now. When tickets are 10 bucks a pop, of course there is more money to be made.

Feh.

¶ 7/27/2006 09:48:00 PM