RTRS:UPDATE 1-Occidental profits surge on oil price gains
* Q2 EPS $2.23 vs Wall St view $2.17
* Q2 output 715,000 BOE per day
* Sales up 34 pct to $6.17 bln
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N: Quote), the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, reported higher than expected quarterly profits on Tuesday as oil prices scaled their highest levels in nearly three years.
Second-quarter net profit rose to $1.8 billion, or $2.23 per share, from $1.1 billion, or $1.31 a share, a year earlier.
That topped analysts' average forecast for earnings per share of $2.17, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Oil and natural gas production rose to 715,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day from 701,000 BOE per day in the second quarter of 2010.
Net sales rose 34 percent to $6.17 billion, compared with an average estimate of $5.79 billion. (Reporting by Matt Daily, additional reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
