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Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest oil company, has announced a threefold jump in profits, crediting a sharp rise in global crude oil prices

The company said pre-tax profits for the first three months of 2003 came in at $7.04bn (£4.4bn ; EUR6.3bn), up from $2.1bn dollars during the same period last year.

The result was Exxon's best ever over three months, beating its previous record of $5.2bn in the final quarter of 2001.

Shares in Exxon - which sells fuel under the Esso brand - were up 1.3% at $35.66 in early trade on Wall Street.

Supply uncertainty

The company's strong performance reflected a recent rally in crude oil prices amid fears that the war in Iraq, an oil workers' strike in Venezuela, and civil unrest in Nigeria would disrupt global supplies.

Exxon's bottom line received a further boost from the sale of its stake in German natural gas distributor Ruhrgas AG.

Exxon's revenues for the first three months of the year also rose sharply, climbing to $63.8bn from $43.4bn one year ago.

Other oil companies have also benefited from the rally in world oil prices, with the UK's BP unveiling a record first-quarter profit of $3.7bn earlier this week.

However, world oil prices are expected to fall in the months ahead as Iraqi output returns to normal, taking some of the shine off the oil sector's financial results.

Copyright © 2003 AP Online This story was published Thursday, May 1st, 2003 By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro, addressing a May Day rally of hundreds of thousands of people, accused the United States on Thursday of trying to provoke a war with Cuba.

"In Miami and Washington they are now discussing where, how and when Cuba will be attacked," the Cuban president said in a speech at the annual celebrations in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.

"On behalf of the one million people gathered here this May Day, I want to convey a message to the world and the American people: We do not want the blood of Cubans and Americans to be shed in a war."

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Castro, wearing his typical olive green uniform and cap, arrived for the ceremony and took his place alongside other communist leaders.

"Long live May Day! Long live socialism! Long live Fidel!" declared Pedro Ross, secretary-general of the Cuban Workers Confederation, as the event began a half-hour early because of concerns that it would rain.

Castro accused the United States of hypocrisy over recent hijackings of Cuban planes and boats, saying Americans were provoking and actively encouraging the hijackings, only to later denounce them.

As an example of America's "brazenly provocative" actions, Castro said Kevin Whitaker, chief of the State Department's Cuban bureau, warned Cuban diplomats in Washington on Sunday that the American government "considered the continued hijackings from Cuba a serious threat to the national security of the United States." There was no immediate response from the State Department.

On April 11, a firing squad executed three men convicted of terrorism for trying to commandeer a Cuban ferry full of passengers to United States.

Castro has said that the executions were a harsh measure needed to halt the hijackings of boats and planes and stem a brewing migration crisis. No one was hurt in the hijacking, one of a wave of at least four attempted and successful hijackings over the last few weeks.

The U.S. government - along with other governments and international human rights groups - has condemned the speed with which the trials and executions were carried out.

Cuba also has been criticized for sentencing 75 dissidents to prison terms of up to 28 years on charges of collaborating with U.S. diplomats to destabilize the socialist regime. It was the island's harshest crackdown on opponents in decades.

Among the crowd, one group hoisted an effigy of President Bush, fashioned of cardboard and plastic bags and bearing the message, "Bush: Don't mess with Cuba."

A scattering of Cuban flags waved above the crowd, along with the flags of nations from around the region, including Brazil, Venezuela, Canada and Uruguay.

"We workers are gathered here to tell the American empire that we are not afraid, in spite of their lies," 66-year-old gardener Jose Rego said shortly before the ceremony began.

More than 900 union leaders from around the world - including 160 from the United States - reportedly were participating in the Havana rally.

Addressing the May Day crowd, the Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., an American pastor who has long backed Castro's government, said that Cuba is "loved, respected, appreciated and supported by millions of U.S. citizens."

But he also called on Cuba to abolish the death penalty.

"Cuba: you are a world leader in human rights and respect for human life," said Walker, pastor of Salvation Baptist Church in Brooklyn and executive director of New York-based Pastors for Peace. "The death penalty demeans that. You are better than that."

Walker exhorted the U.S. government to "cease its hypocritical lies and distortion about Cuba's human rights record because the United States itself is the worst violator of human rights in this hemisphere."

By Jeffrey Tomich

Irving, Texas, May 1 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said first-quarter profit tripled to $7.04 billion because of surging energy prices and proceeds from the sale of a German natural-gas business.

Net income was equal to $1.05 a share, compared with $2.09 billion, or 30 cents a share, in the same period of 2002, the company said in a statement. Revenue rose to $63.8 billion from $43.5 billion.

Exxon Mobil had a record quarter for profit as oil prices rose 56 percent on average and natural gas doubled. The refining business, which had a loss in the first quarter last year, earned $723 million before taxes and interest. Chemical profit surged 85 percent.

Aside from a little bit of a shortfall in production, we were pleased,'' said Gene Pisasale, senior investment officer at Wilmington Trust Co., which owns almost 10 million Exxon shares. They had strong downstream margins and chemicals were good.''

Excluding a $1.7 billion gain from the sale of Exxon Mobil's stake in German natural-gas distributor Ruhrgas AG, a $550 million benefit from an accounting change, and some merger expenses, profit was $4.79 billion, or 71 cents a share, the company said.

Analysts had expected 70 cents, based on the average estimate in a poll by Thomson Financial.

Oil Earnings

Earnings from oil and gas production doubled to a record $3.99 billion because of higher prices, the company said.

Production of oil and natural-gas liquids fell to 2.51 million barrels a day from 2.54 million barrels, the company said. Natural-gas output rose to 12 billion cubic feet a day from 11.7 billion cubic feet.

Excluding the effects of the strike in Venezuela and a restriction on Exxon Mobil's production for members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, output of oil and gas rose 2 percent, the company said.

Average crude-oil prices rose 56 percent in the quarter to $33.80 a barrel because of a strike in Venezuela, civil unrest in Nigeria and the war in Iraq. Natural gas more than doubled to $5.92 per million British thermal units as cold weather in much of the U.S. spurred demand for heating fuel.

Prices fell during March and ``are significantly lower thus far in the second quarter,'' Exxon Mobil said.

Shares of Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil fell 13 cents to $35.07 at 10:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after earlier rising as much as 49 cents. The stock had fallen 12 percent in the past year.

Refining Profit

Profit from making and selling fuels such as gasoline and heating oil was $723 million compared with a $28 million loss a year ago.

Earnings from the chemicals business rose to $287 million because of favorable foreign exchange effects and improved profitability outside the U.S.

Exxon raised its quarterly dividend 8.7 percent yesterday to 25 cents a share from 23 cents. It was the first quarterly boost in the payment since 2001 for Exxon Mobil, which had $7.2 billion in cash at the end of last year.

Capital and exploration spending in the first quarter rose $522 million to $3.5 billion, Exxon Mobil said. The company also purchased 35 million shares of its stock during the quarter for $1.19 billion, or about $34 a share. Last Updated: May 1, 2003 10:41 EDT

Posted on Thu, May. 01, 2003 By ALEXANDRA OLSON Associated Press

HAVANA - Fidel Castro accused the United States of wanting to attack Cuba, speaking at a May Day celebration on Thursday that aimed to defend the island's socialist system against criticism from abroad.

"In Miami and Washington they are now discussing where, how and when Cuba will be attacked," the Cuban president told a crowd of hundreds of thousands gathered for the celebration in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.

"I want to convey a message to the world and the American people: We do not want the blood of Cubans and Americans to be shed in a war," he said.

The crowd responded with cries of "Whatever it takes, Fidel!" while waving handheld Cuban flags. One group hoisted an effigy of President Bush that read, "Bush: Don't mess with Cuba."

Castro spoke for less than two hours - brief for the 76-year-old president. He said U.S. officials "provoke and encourage" attacks like the recent hijackings of Cuban planes and boats.

There was no immediate response from the U.S. State Department. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said recently that "there are no plans for military action against Cuba."

The gathering came two weeks after the firing-squad executions of three men convicted of terrorism for trying to hijack a Cuban ferry full of passengers to the United States. No one was hurt in the hijacking - one of at least four over a few weeks.

The Bush administration - along with other governments and international human rights groups - condemned the quick trial and execution of the men.

Castro said the executions were necessary to halt the hijackings and stem a growing migration crisis.

But he said he respected the opinions of Pope John Paul II and some of his longtime supporters, including the New York Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., who have asked him to abolish the death penalty. The Cuban leader said he would consider their arguments.

"Cuba, you are a world leader in human rights and respect for human life," Walker told the crowd earlier in the morning. "The death penalty demeans that."

Walker, pastor of Salvation Baptist Church in Brooklyn, and executive director of New York-based Pastors for Peace is among Cuba's best-known American supporters.

"The day will come when we can accede to the wishes for the abolition of this penalty so nobly expressed here by Reverend Lucius Walker," Castro said. "A wave of hijackings had been unleashed and was already in full development - it had to be stopped."

Cuba also faces stern criticism for sending 75 dissidents to prison on charges of collaborating with U.S. diplomats to destabilize the socialist regime. It was the island's harshest crackdown on opponents in decades, drawing condemnation even from leftist intellectuals traditionally sympathetic to Cuba.

Castro said he was disheartened with "those friends of Cuba" - such as Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes - who have "attacked Cuba unjustly."

He warned they would "suffer infinite sorrow" if Cuba were attacked and "they realized their declarations were shamelessly manipulated by the aggressors to justify a military attack."