The oil giant ChevronTexaco has increased its quarterly profits four times to $1.6bn on the back of higher oil prices.

ChevronTexaco is one of the world's biggest oil companies, with a strong production base in the Gulf of Mexico and a big upstream operation in refining and marketing.

All parts of the company grew in the second quarter of the year, with exploration and production earning $1.3bn and refining adding $438m.

ChevronTexaco also took a charge of $111m against assets to be disposed of, and reduced its outstanding debt by $3.2bn.

The high oil price led to strong cash flow, with the company revenues soaring to $29.4bn in the quarter.

"As long as energy prices stay where they are, ChevronTexaco is a good place to be," Deutsche Bank oil analyst Paul Sankey said.

But the volume of oil produced fell by 9% in the US, due to the effect of tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Analysts believe that the disruption in Iraq and Nigeria will keep oil prices high through the end of the year.

Other oil companies, like rival ExxonMobil, are also generating big profits at the moment.

Exxon, the world's largest oil company, reported earlier in the week that its profits had risen 58% to $4.2bn in the second quarter, on sales of $60bn.