ConocoPhillips, the third largest U.S. oil company, released its earnings for the second quarter of 2006 on Thursday, showing a surge in net profit attributed to the inclusion of the recently acquired Burlington Resources and high oil prices.

The net income for the second quarter of 2006 was $5.2 billion, an increase of 65 percent from the same quarter a year ago, which was $3.1 billion. Earnings per share

(EPS) rose 40 percent from $2.21 to $3.09 in the same period, a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were forecasting earnings of $2.81 a share in the most recent quarter.

The Texas based firm's second quarter revenues rose 13 percent, from $41.8 billion to $47.1 billion a year ago. The biggest revenue generator came from its exploration and production segment where it recorded a profit of $2,553, up 32 percent from its previous quarter, a year ago of $1,929 million.

The company reported it produced 2.54 million barrels of oil per day.

"We delivered solid results in the second quarter and are pleased with the progress made integrating the Burlington Resources operations with ConocoPhillips' global portfolio,' said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer. "However, we experienced unplanned downtime in both our upstream and downstream businesses, which impacted our operating performance.

In the mid stream sector, the Houston firm announced a lower net profit after the price of natural gas fell.

Conocophillips