HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp reported a 66 percent drop in quarterly profit Thursday as natural gas and crude oil prices slid from a year ago and the global recession hurt demand for fuel.
Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said second-quarter net income was $3.95 billion, or 81 cents per share, down from $11.68 billion, or $2.22 per share, a year earlier.
Earnings excluding special items were $4.09 billion, or 84 cents per share.
Production fell 3 percent from a year earlier, the Irving, Texas, company said.
Shares of Exxon were around $71 in premarket trade, down from a New York Stock Exchange close of $71.43 on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; editing by John Wallace)
