Chevron acquired US rival Unocal in August last year

America's second-biggest oil producer saw its annual net income rise to $14.1bn (�7.9bn) in 2005, up from $13.3bn in the previous year.

But Chevron's results for the final three months of the year failed to match Wall Street expectations.

Fourth-quarter net income was $4.1bn. Chevron said its output had been hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The tropical storms caused havoc for a number of producers along the US Gulf coast last year, shutting down about 140,000 barrels of oil-equivalent production per day during the fourth quarter.

Chevron said its worldwide production amounted to 2.86 million barrels of oil per day, up 11% on the previous year.