Chevron’s third quarter profits have risen for the first time in three years.
The oil major credited refining costs as one of the key factors in boosting its revenue.
However the company did see a slight drop in its sales and operating revenue for the third quarter, pulling in $52billion, compared to last year’s $57billion.
Chief executive officer, John Watson, said: “Despite a decline in crude oil prices, our third quarter earnings were higher than a year ago.
“Overall downstream results improved, reflecting the benefits of lower feedstock costs and better refinery reliability, particularly in the US.
“We also concluded certain asset sales as part of our announced, three-year divestment program.
“Cash generation in the quarter was solid, and our financial strength enables us to both reward our investors through distributions and fund value-adding projects.
“We continue to make good progress on our key development projects.
“New production was recently achieved at the Bibiyana Expansion Project in Bangladesh.
“The Tubular Bells and Jack/St. Malo projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are expected to start up during the fourth quarter and important construction milestones continue to be reached on our Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia.
“In addition, we continue to make steady progress on the development and Policy, Government and Public Affairs ramp-up of production from our shale and tight resources, particularly in the Permian.
“These and other major capital projects are expected to deliver significant growth in production, earnings and cash flows in the years ahead.”
Foreign currency effects increased earnings in the 2014 quarter by $366million, compared with a decrease of $276million a year earlier.
The company also purchased $1.25billion of its common stock in the third quarter under its share repurchase program.
Oil prices for the third quarter sat at $87 a barrel, which was down from $97 a barrel the year before.
Earlier this year Chevron cut its production forecasts after warning it expects to suffer rising costs and project delays over the next few years.
Initial forecasts of 3.3 million barrels of oil per day output by 2017 have now been lowered to 3.1million, as the company looks to sell up to £6billion of assets over the next three years.
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