While everyone has been talking about the large amounts of money that oil companies are taking in from oil and gasoline operations, for five of these firms chemical operations are making their own contributions, although on a smaller scale.

These five firms saw chemical earnings grow 49.0% in the second quarter to a total of $1.22 billion compared with the same quarter last year. For the first six months, their combined earnings were up 93.1% to $3.02 billion.

Tops among these companies in terms of percentage growth for chemicals was the smallest--Sunoco--with earnings rising 150% to $30.0 million. Chief Executive Officer John G. Drosdick says of chemical operations, "Margins, particularly for phenol and related products, were much improved over the year-ago quarter."

Occidental Petroleum also scored well, with earnings increasing 145% to $225 million. The company notes that the improvement was due to higher margins in chlorine, caustic soda, and polyvinyl chloride resulting from higher sales prices, partially offset by high energy and feedstock costs.

ExxonMobil, which has the largest chemical operations of the five firms, saw earnings rise 34.1% in the quarter to $814 million, owing to improved margins partially offset by lower volumes. Company data show volumes declined 4.9% to 6.59 million metric tons.

Chevron and ConocoPhillips benefited from their Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) joint venture. Chevron's chemical earnings for the quarter were $84.0 million, up 42.4% from the same period a year earlier, primarily because of higher margins for commodity chemicals. Higher feedstock costs at the company's Oronite subsidiary partially offset the growth at CPChem.

Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips' chemical earnings rose 37.0% to $63.0 million.The increase, according to the company, reflects higher margins from olefins and polyolefins, partially offset by lower volumes and margins from aromatics and styrenics.