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)

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