Oct. 30--Chevron Corp.'s profits slumped by 51 percent because of weaker oil prices, but the earnings beat Wall Street's estimates and the company's oil production surged.

San Ramon-based Chevron earned $3.83 billion, or $1.92 a share in the third quarter, compared with year-ago profit of $7.89 billion, or $3.85 a share, the company said Friday.

The oil company's shares were down 63 cents, or nearly 1 percent, to $77.32 this morning.

Earnings for Chevron's exploration, development and production operations totaled $3.64 billion and fell 41 percent because of prices for crude oil and natural gas that faltered.

The company's earnings for refinery, retail and transportation operations totaled $194 million and plunged 89 percent.

Production of oil and natural gas, measured by barrels of oil, was robust because several key fields came on line and began to ramp up their output, said David O'Reilly, Chevron chairman and chief executive officer.

"Our net oil-equivalent production this quarter was nearly 11 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago," O'Reilly said. "This operational success helped mitigate a decline in earnings that was driven by sharply lower prices for crude oil and natural gas."

Profits from refinery and retail operations, also known as the downstream business, faltered amid feeble demand for gasoline in a sour economy.

"In our downstream operations, we continued to experience weak margins on the sale

of gasoline and other refined products," O'Reilly said.

George Avalos can be phoned at 925-977-8477

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