Oil giant ExxonMobil's profits surged to a record in the last three months of 2005.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company Monday said it made $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter.
The results were $2.3 billion better than the same period a year ago, and even larger than analysts expected.
ExxonMobil benefited from record-high oil prices that soared as strong demand from growing economies in India, China, and the United States outstripped what oil exporting nations could produce.
The Bloomberg Financial News service reports that ExxonMobil's annual sales are larger than the gross domestic product of some significant nations like Sweden or Indonesia.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
