Exxon Mobil reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit on July 29, as oil prices and margins to process crude into gasoline rebounded from a year earlier and production rose.

Profit in the quarter was $7.56 billion, or $1.60 per share, compared with $4.09 billion, or 84 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.46 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Oil and gas output in the quarter rose 8 percent.

Shares of Exxon rose to $61.10 in premarket trading from the July 28 close of $60.91. Its shares have fallen 16 percent since it announced its purchase of XTO Energy on December 14.

• Reuters news story: Exxon profit tops Wall Street, output up 8 pct

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