NEW YORK, July 27: Surging oil prices helped drive quarterly profits for US energy giant ExxonMobil to $10.36bn, the latest in a string of mammoth profit reports that have drawn fire for the industry.

The second-quarter profit was up 36pc from a year ago and approached the company’s all-time record profit of $10.71bn that was believed to be one of the biggest for any company.

Stoked by skyrocketing crude-oil prices, ExxonMobil’s net profit in the quarter to June came to $1.72 per share.

Total revenues in the three months rose 11.8pc from the same quarter of 2005 to $99bn.—AFP