CVX Chevron Corporation

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. oil company, said its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 58% as oil prices remain depressed, but the decline was smaller than analysts had feared.

The Irving, Texas, company reported a profit of $2.78 billion, or 67 cents a share, down from $6.57 billion, or $1.56 a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of 63 cents.

Exxon hasn't logged a quarterly profit below $3 billion since 2002.

Revenue fell 31% to $59.81 billion.

Analysts had forecast revenue of $51.36 billion.

Profit in the exploration and production, or upstream, business plunged to $857 million from $5.47 billion a year earlier. Its U.S. upstream division swung to a loss of $538 million from a profit of $1.5 billion a year earlier.

But Exxon was again helped by fatter profits in the downstream division, which is helped by low prices for oil and gas. In the latest quarter, refining and marketing earnings, or downstream, more than doubled to $1.35 billion from $497 million a year earlier.

Exxon said it cut its capital spending by 29% from the prior year to $7.42 billion.

Exxon has moved to conserve cash as oil and gas prices languish at their lowest levels in more than a decade.

Oil companies around the world have been battered by a price crash that has left crude and natural gas stubbornly low. Producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and major international oil companies like Chevron have all continued to pump more fuel in the face of the crisis—a standoff that shows no signs of abating.

Last week, Chevron Corp., the second biggest U.S. energy company by revenue behind Exxon, kicked off earnings season for big energy companies by reporting its first quarterly loss since 2002. The company said it was readying for a second wave of layoffs and unveiled plans to slash its capital spending by more than $9 billion this year.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2016 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.