CHEVRON Corp, the second-largest United States oil company, said yesterday that first-quarter profit rose 9.5 percent as crude prices surpassed US$100 a barrel.

Net income climbed to US$5.17 billion, or US$2.48 a share, from US$4.72 billion, or US$2.18, a year earlier, California-based Chevron said yesterday. Per-share profit was 8 cents higher than the average of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

US oil futures averaged US$97.82 a barrel in the quarter, up almost US$30, on their way to touching a record at US$119.93 this week. Each US$5 increase in crude prices boosts Chevron's earnings per share by more than 6 percent, according to Erik Mielke, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co in New York.

"If oil prices stay high, we're going to see Chevron and these other oil companies worth significantly more," said David Foley, of Grove Creek Asset Management in New York. "These stocks are not yet priced for US$100 oil."

Chevron rose 56 cents to US$95.50 in early trading before US exchanges opened. First-quarter revenue climbed 37 percent to US$65.9 billion, Chevron said.

Chief Executive Officer David O'Reilly plans to spend more than US$400 million a week this year in the company's costliest push to find new reserves, bring discoveries into production and expand refineries.

O'Reilly is targeting oil and natural-gas growth of 4.6 percent by the end of 2010 after the company's resource base dropped to the lowest in almost a decade in 2007.

Chevron is last among major US oil producers in reporting first-quarter results.