Chevron profit falls 5.8% on lower refining margin : Report

Chevron Corp.'s third-quarter earnings slipped 5.8% as lower margins for refined products hit the company's downstream profits
Weak refining margins and profits have pressured many big oil companies' results in the latest quarter
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company by market value, after Exxon Mobil Corp., said last month its third-quarter global oil and gas production would rise slightly from the year-ago quarter, but warned downstream earnings would be "significantly lower."
The latest period included about $276 million in foreign-exchange losses, compared with a loss of $293 million last year
Chevron reported a profit of $4.95 billion, or $2.57 a share, down from $5.25 billion, or $2.69 a share, a year earlier
Revenue edged up 0.8% to $58.5 billion
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of $2.71 a share on revenue of $58.41 billion
Exploration-and-production earnings slipped 0.9% to $5.09 billion
Global oil-equivalent production increased to 2.59 million barrels per day from 2.52 million barrels per day a year earlier, due to lower maintenance-related downtime at Tengizchevroil and project ramp-ups in the U.S., Nigeria and Angola
The profit from its refining, marketing and chemical operations, known as the downstream segment, fell 45% to $380 million due to lower margins on refined product sales and higher operating expenses