Big Oil pro1 ts mount, with Conoco ringing up $3.8 billion

Big Oil’s parade of pro 4 ts, driven by record oil prices, continued Wednesday as ConocoPhillips reported quarterly net earnings of

$ 3.8 billion, up 89%

from a year ago.

The No. 3 U.S. oil company’s results, which surpassed Wall Street forecasts, arrived a day after Europe’s biggest producer, BP, posted a $ 4.4 billion pro 4 t. The industry may have had the most pro 4 table quarter in its history as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita idled o ffsho re w ells and G ulf Coast re 4 neries, pushing up oil, natural- gas and gasoline prices.

No. 1 ExxonMobil reports results today; No. 2 U.S. producer Chevron on Friday. The 4 ve biggest oil companies — BP, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Chevron — may report combined net income of $26 billion for the quarter, up 23% from a year earlier, according to Credit Suisse First Boston. That equals the economic output of Hungary.

Conoco’s pro 4 t came to $ 2.68 a share, 11 cents above the estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by Thompson Financial. Conoco shares have risen 21% in the third quarter.

Other results out Wednesday:

Sprint Nextel:

The No. 3 U.S. wireless service said its pro 4 t grew to $516 million, or 41 cents a share, up from 31 cents. Analysts expected 39 cents. The company, formed in August when Sprint bought Nextel Communications, said revenue rose 8% to $ 11.2 billion. It added 1.3 million customers in the quarter.

WellPoint:

The largest U.S. health insurer said earnings more than doubled to $641 million, as it continued to reap bene 4 ts from last year’s merger with Anthem. Revenue rose 135% to $11.3 billion. Earnings came to $ 1.02 a share, a penny above analyst expectations.

Norfolk Southern:

The freight railroad said its pro 4 t grew 5%, to $301 million, as higher coal demand helped boost revenue. Earnings came to 73 cents a share, a penny below analyst expectations.

Lucent Technologies:

The telecom equipment maker’s pro 4 t dropped 69%, to $374 million, or 8 cents a share, because of fewer tax bene 4 ts and higher expenses. Profit topped targets by 3 cent a share.

Reynolds American:

The nation’s No. 2 tobacco company’s pro4 t fell 37%, to $213 million, weighed down by hefty charges from payments to tobacco growers and an industry buyout of a tobacco quota plan. Pro 4 t of $ 1.44 a share was 56 cents below forecasts.