Cheaper Oil to Hurt Chevron's Fourth Quarter

Chevron recorded a third-quarter profit of $7.89 billion -- the most for any three-month period in its 129-year corporate history.

Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported income of $14.83 billion for the same period, shattering its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation.

Although Chevron didn't provide any specific earnings projections for the fourth quarter, Wall Street is expecting its results to be the poorest of 2008. Chevron is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year earnings Jan. 30.

The average earnings estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is $1.78 a share, well off the $3.85 a share Chevron posted in the third quarter and the $2.32 a share it reported in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Shares of Chevron closed up 28 cents on Thursday to close at $74.24.