Chevron Q1 profit up 4 percent, production down

(Reuters) - Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, reported on Friday a rise in quarterly profit as rising oil prices and refining margins made up for a decline in oil and gas production.

First-quarter profit rose to $6.5 billion, or $3.27 per share, from $6.2 billion, or $3.09 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose nearly 1 percent to $60.7 billion.

Oil and gas production declined to 2.63 million barrels per day (bpd) on an oil-equivalent basis, down from 2.76 million bpd a year before, while average benchmark oil prices rose about 12 percent over the same period.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)