Though oil prices continued to drop on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 25, at least one oil company reported a significant increase in profits.

Formerly British Petroleum, the oil giant now simply known as BP reported a 34 percent increase in its third quarter profits Oct. 25. For the three months ending Sept. 30, the oil giant reported net profits of $6.53 billion, up from $4.87 billion in the third quarter of 2004, according to The Associated Press.

This rise came in spite of the fact that the company’s overall production for the quarter was down 2 percent compared with last year because of hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a news release, CCE Officer Lord Browne attributed the increase to the volatility of the oil market.

“The recent hurricanes in the U.S. have impacted our results,” he said. “However, underlying performance is strong, amplified by high but volatile prices of oil, gas and products.”

The AP reported that BP is the first major oil company to report its quarterly result in the wake of the hurricanes. Others are expected to follow later this week.