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Soaring oil prices helped Exxon Mobil post a slightly higher fourth-quarter profit. But a slowdown in production and lower natural gas prices are worrying investors.

Exxon’s oil and natural gas production fell 9 percent during the quarter. The drop came even after the company spent a record $36.8 billion last year to explore for more energy. Exxon’s stock price fell $1.74, or 2 percent, to $83.75 a share in midday trade.

Exploration can take years to yield more oil and gas. Some of Exxon’s biggest investments recently have been in U.S. natural gas fields, which so far haven’t paid off because prices are at the lowest level in a decade.

Its $29 billion acquisition of XTO Energy two years ago has been a disappointment, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said.

The deal, which overnight made Exxon America’s biggest natural gas producer, hasn’t generated the kind of profits that investors expected.

Gheit said the company needs to consider cutting production. “They don’t want to have dead wood dragging them down,” he said.

The business Exxon is best known for, oil, drove results during the quarter. In the final three months of the year, the company sold crude for 27 percent more than a year earlier.

That boosted net income to $9.4 billion, or $1.97 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $9.25 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose nearly 16 percent to $121.6 billion.

Exxon produced an average of 4.5 million barrels of oil and natural gas a day. That’s nearly twice as much as Chevron Corp., America’s second-largest petroleum company.

But the output is less than what Exxon’s wells produced the year before. That’s partly because some of fields matured and produced less. Also, many contracts in foreign countries limit the amount of oil that Exxon can keep and sell as prices rise.

Earnings in Exxon’s exploration and production business rose 18 percent thanks to higher prices.

But those same prices hurt its refining business, where income dropped 63 percent. The refineries have struggled to pass along to customers the higher cost of oil used for gasoline, diesel and other fuels. That’s because demand is slowing in many parts of the world.

Stricter rules on car and truck fuel economy are expected to keep demand low for years in the U.S. and Europe.

As result, large oil and gas companies have been shedding refining operations, especially in developed markets.

Exxon announced Sunday that it is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. for $3.9 billion following an extended slide in Japanese fuel demand. The deal is expected to close mid-year.

Exxon’s chemicals business saw profits decline 49 percent.

For the full year, Exxon’s net income rose 34.8 percent while revenue rose 26.9 percent.

Last week, Chevron Corp. said profits slipped 3.2 percent. ConocoPhillips reported a 66-percent increase in quarterly earnings, though much of that came from the sale of a pipeline and other assets. Royal Dutch Shell expects to report its financial results later this week.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 91 cents to $84.58 in early trading.

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Italian officials have lowered the number of people still unaccounted-for in the grounding of a cruise ship off Tuscany.

Tuscany’s regional president Enrico Rossi said that there were now six crew members and 11 passengers who haven’t been located out of the 4,200-plus people who were aboard the Costa Concordia when it struck a reef and capsized Friday night.

Three people have been confirmed killed and three people were rescued more than 24 hours after the disaster: a South Korean honeymooning couple and an Italian member of the ship’s crew, who was hoisted to safety Sunday afternoon by helicopter.

The Concordia’s commander has been detained on accusations of manslaughter and abandoning the ship. He has said the reef wasn’t marked.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

GIGLIO, Italy (AP) _ An Italian prosecutor has confirmed allegations from passengers and others that the captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia abandoned the stricken liner before all the passengers had left.

Three people are confirmed dead after the huge cruise ship carrying more than 4,200 people ran aground on Friday night.

Asked Sunday by Sky Italia TV about allegations that the captain had left the ship before the last passenger had been rescued, Grosseto prosecutor Francesco Verusio replied, “Unfortunately I must confirm that circumstance.”

The captain, Francesco Schettino, was detained for questioning for suspected manslaughter, abandoning ship before all others and causing a shipwreck.

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Germany’s finance minister says he is confident that Europe’s politicians will manage to stabilize the eurozone in 2012 and keep the continent’s common currency together.

Wolfgang Schaeuble acknowledged in an interview with business daily Handelsblatt published Friday that major problems that have built up over a long time remain to be tackled in some countries.

However, he added, “I think we will be far enough along in the next 12 months that we will have banished the dangers of contagion and stabilized the eurozone.”

Asked whether he could rule out the 17-nation eurozone breaking up, Schaeuble was quoted as saying: “According to everything that I know at the moment, yes.” He insisted that Europe’s politicians “are doing everything to prevent the common currency falling apart.”

“Of course, the European Union cannot force anyone to stay in if they don’t want to belong any more,” he added. “But no such development can be seen at the moment.”

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is a key player in the long-running battle to stem the eurozone debt crisis. It has backed the strategy of getting governments to embark on often-savage austerity measures to reduce deficits.

But it has opposed measures such as issuing jointly backed eurobonds and argued that there is no quick fix to the crisis, expressing great skepticism about the wisdom of a major government bond-buying drive by the European Central Bank that is advocated by many as a way of forcing down struggling countries’ borrowing costs guaranteed fast personal loans.

“The talk of bazookas and the like only leads to us not tackling sustainably the causes of the crisis,” Schaeuble was quoted as saying.

The eurozone will quickly face new challenges in 2012, with both Italy and Spain needing to borrow large amounts of money early in the new year. Both countries face high borrowing costs.

Schaeuble acknowledged that Europe’s refinancing needs in early 2012 are “not trivial.”

“But the more we win back confidence on the markets, the more investors … will invest in the eurozone, and not just in German bonds,” he said. “There is no shortage of money worldwide.”

“In case of doubt, a somewhat higher interest rate has to be paid for some government bonds,” Schaeuble said. “That is not damaging per se and also can encourage the understanding that we have to tackle the actual causes of the crisis: overly high debts and a lack of competitiveness.”

Schaeuble said he sees no sign of a credit crunch in Germany. Asked about other countries, he pointed to the ECB’s moves to provide massive long-term loans to banks.

“Given the measures the ECB has taken to provide banks with liquidity, it is hard to imagine that banks would not be in a position to provide sufficient loans to business,” he said.

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TNK-BP, a Russian joint venture of British oil giant BP, said Wednesday it will invest up to $10 billion in developing Arctic oilfields.

The company, half-owned by BP and Russian billionaires, said in a statement that up to $10 billion will be spent on building infrastructure at the fields and a pipeline that will link them with the export pipeline.

Russian oil companies have been drawing up plans to move to the oil and gas-rich Arctic as mature fields in Western Siberia are getting depleted.

TNK-BP said an agreement with Russia’s pipeline monopolist Transneft will allow it to connect its Arctic oil fields to the export pipeline in Russia’s Far East mainly aimed at Chinese customers.

TNK-BP will be able to ship oil through the Zapolyaryev-Purpe pipeline, which is expected to be built by 2016 to become a key link between Arctic resources and the main east and westbound pipeline routes.

The company said it expects to start shipments from new fields in the Yamal region in 2015. Its fields in the region are estimated to hold 5 billion barrels of oil.

TNK-BP’s executive German Khan described in the statement cooperation between oil companies and state-owned Transneft as “one of the most important conditions for putting new fields into development and efficiently developing the abundant resources of the region.”

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday tried to reassure U.S. soldiers, a group hit hard by high unemployment, that the Fed is working to strengthen the economy.

In a speech at a military base in El Paso, Texas, Bernanke told a group of soldiers and their families that the Fed is trying to lower unemployment. He talked about the Fed’s policies of keeping short-term rates near zero and buying securities to try and lower longer-term rates, such as mortgages.

Many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are returning home to find few jobs and limited prospects. The unemployment rate for veterans of those wars was 12.1 percent in October. That’s up from 10.6 percent a year ago and well above the national average of 9 percent.

“I’m here because the men and women in military service, like all Americans, are profoundly affected by the economic challenges our nation has faced these past several years,” Bernanke said during the speech at Fort Bliss, the country’s largest Army base.

The town hall meeting was the latest in a series of public outreach efforts Bernanke has made to underscore the efforts the central bank is pursuing to help ordinary Americans cope with the Great Recession. Over the past 2 1/2 years, Bernanke has attended half a dozen informal gatherings in Kansas City, Atlanta, Cleveland and other cities payday advances.

Thursday’s town hall meeting was his first in Texas. Fed officials say Bernanke chose the location because he wanted to highlight the base’s successful financial literacy program.

Last week, the Fed downgraded its economic outlook for the next two years and said that it does not expect the unemployment rate to fall significantly through the end of next year.

President Barack Obama is pushing for tax credits of up to $5,600 to businesses that hire a veteran who has been unemployed for six months or more. Another tax credit would provide $9,600 for companies that hire an injured vet who has been unemployed that long.

The Senate is expected to take up the tax credits as part of broader legislation. The tax incentives cleared the House last month and are not expected to be paid for through Obama’s proposed tax on millionaires, raising hopes that could win Republican support.

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The leaders of Germany and Greece met in Berlin on Tuesday, buoying stock markets around the world with hopes they were finally preparing a comprehensive solution to the European debt crisis.

Greece must receive an euro8 billion ($11 billion) rescue loan before mid-October to stave off bankruptcy, a collapse that would send shock waves through financial markets in Europe and the world. But creditors have demanded more efforts to raise revenue.

In response, Greek lawmakers approved a controversial new property tax Tuesday evening, passing it 154 votes to 143 against in the 300-member parliament.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government downplayed speculation of bold new moves ahead of her meeting Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou but the simple gathering itself buoyed spirits in financial markets.

The current plan is to have Greece implement painful debt-reduction measures in exchange for rescue loans. Greece relies on funds from last year’s euro110 billion ($149 billion) package, and European leaders have also agreed on a second euro109 billion bailout, although some details of that remain to be worked out.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said his country will get the money. “The disbursement will be decided in time, in line with the course of our funding needs,” he said Tuesday.

Speaking over chants from protesting ministry employees and tax office workers outside his department, Venizelos said Greek had made great efforts to achieve its fiscal targets, but that a “hyper-effort” was necessary to fully meet its commitments.

Experts, however, say the current course of austerity is untenable.

There is growing speculation in the markets that Greece’s bailout creditors will look to impose bigger losses on Greece’s private bondholders as well as recapitalizing Europe’s banks and boosting the size of the eurozone’s rescue fund. Talk of such a comprehensive package has helped turn sentiment around in stock markets this week following last week’s turmoil.

So far, there’s been no confirmation from Europe’s capitals that such a comprehensive solution is being planned Payday Loan for Bad Credit.

Venizelos said representatives from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank will return to Athens this week. The so-called troika suspended their review in early September amid talk of missed targets and budget shortfalls.

In Berlin, Papandreou told a conference of the Federation of German Industries that “we are borrowing to repay” _ but also stressed that Europe needs to show it can get its act together.

“I can guarantee that Greece will live up to all its commitments,” Papandreou said ahead of the evening meeting with Merkel.

The Greek government recently announced new austerity measures, including pension cuts and tax hikes.

The new property tax will be charged through electricity bills to make it easier for the state to collect, instead of going through Greece’s unwieldy and inefficient tax system. Those who refuse to pay risk having their power cut off.

But the extra charge has deeply angered Greeks, who have already been through more than a year of sharp austerity that has seen salary and pension cuts and increased taxes across the board. State electricity company unionists have threatened not to collect the tax.

Speaking before the vote, Venizelos acknowledged the new tax was harsh on some, but stressed the government had no choice but to impose it as it fought to reduce its budget deficit.

“Clearly there will be categories of people who will not be able to pay this housing charge and this is a situation that will be resolved,” he said. “But the most important thing is that we achieve the targets agreed to in 2011 and 2012.”

Greeks have been outraged by the new measures after a year of austerity, and unions have responded with strikes and protests. Public transport workers walked off the job Tuesday for two days, and were to be joined by taxi drivers on Wednesday. Tax office and customs workers were also on strike.

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The Obama administration restructured a half-billion dollar federal loan to a troubled solar energy company in such a way that private investors _ including a fundraiser for President Barack Obama _ moved ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of a default, government records show.

Administration officials defended the loan restructuring, saying that without an infusion of cash earlier this year, solar panel maker Solyndra Inc. would likely have faced immediate bankruptcy, putting more than 1,000 people out of work.

Even with the federal help, Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month and laid off its 1,100 employees.

The Fremont, Calif.-based company was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under a stimulus-law program to encourage green energy and was frequently touted by the Obama administration as a model. Obama visited the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters last year, and Vice President Joe Biden spoke by satellite at its groundbreaking.

Since then, the implosion of the company and revelations that the administration hurried Office of Management and Budget officials to finish their review of the loan in time for the September 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for Obama as he sells his new job-creation program around the country.

An Associated Press review of regulatory filings shows that Solyndra was hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars for years before the Obama administration signed off on the original $535 million loan guarantee in September 2009. The company eventually got $528 million.

Given the company’s shaky financial condition, Republican lawmakers say the decision to restructure the loan raises questions about whether the administration protected political supporters at taxpayers’ expense.

“You should have protected the taxpayers and made some forceful actions here after this analysis,” Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., told a top Energy Department official this week. “Because you should have seen the problems. And you should have said, `Taxpayers need to be protected and this has got to stop.’ `’

The loan restructuring is one element congressional investigators are focusing on as they look into the federal loan guarantee Solyndra received under the economic stimulus law.

Under terms of the February loan restructuring, two private investors _ Argonaut Ventures I LLC and Madrone Partners LP _ stand to be repaid before the U.S. government if the solar company is liquidated. The two firms gave the company a total of $69 million in emergency loans. The loans are the only portion of their investments that have repayment priority above the U.S. government.

Argonaut is an investment vehicle of the George Kaiser Family Foundation of Tulsa, Okla. The foundation is headed by billionaire George Kaiser, a major Obama campaign contributor and a frequent visitor to the White House. Kaiser raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for Obama’s 2008 campaign, federal election records show. Kaiser has made at least 16 visits to the president’s aides since 2009, according to White House visitor logs.

Madrone Partners is affiliated with the Walton family, descendants of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Rob Walton, the eldest son of Sam Walton, contributed $2,500 last year to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The AP review also found that officials at Solyndra had been seeking a second round of loans from the Energy Department to expand the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. The request for a second loan was denied.

“We have incurred significant net losses since our inception, including a net loss of $114.1 million in 2007, $232.1 million in 2008 and $119.8 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2009, and we had an accumulated deficit of $505 million at Oct. 3, 2009,” the company said in a December 2009 filing to the SEC. “We expect to continue to incur significant operating and net losses and negative cash flow from operations for the foreseeable future.”

Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said Friday that the company’s financial losses were not uncommon for a high-tech startup and were a major reason Solyndra applied for the federal loan. The loan program is intended to help promising companies that cannot receive financing through private banks because of high risk.

Jonathan Silver, executive director of the Energy Department’s loan program, said DOE officials faced a stark choice late last year and early this year: Refuse to allow the loan restructuring, “thereby ensuring that Solyndra would close its doors immediately” or allow the company to accept emergency financing, “thereby giving it and its almost 1,000 workers a fighting chance at success, and the government a higher expected recovery on its loan.”

The decision by Energy Secretary Steven Chu was not an easy one, Silver told the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but appeared to be the right action at the time.

“Without DOE’s agreement to restructure Solyndra’s loan, the company likely would have faced bankruptcy much earlier _ in December 2010″ or soon after, Silver said. “Restructuring gave them a fighting chance to compete and succeed, and kept approximately 1,000 workers from losing their jobs.”

Republicans were not impressed.

“If their model was weak to begin with, and then the market gets worse, doesn’t that mean that maybe we should have just not thrown good money after bad?” asked Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va. “Because now we’re in a worse position in the bankruptcy courts to get our money back.”

GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann called the Solyndra loan an example of “crony capitalism” that benefited political donors.

“It’s wrong to abuse executive authority with unilateral actions” Bachmann said at a campaign event Friday in California. “And of course the other problem with Solyndra is the fact that it appears there was crony capitalism, that there were political donors that benefited by this $535 million loan.”

Newly released emails show the White House was worried about the likely effect of a default by Solyndra on Obama’s re-election campaign.

“The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad,” an OMB official wrote in a Jan. 31 email to a colleague. “The timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up.”

The budget official, whose name is blacked out in the email, wondered whether Solyndra should be allowed to restructure its loan.

“Questions will be asked as to why the administration made a bad investment, not just once (which could hopefully be explained as part of the challenge of supporting innovative technologies), but twice (which could easily be portrayed as bad judgment, or worse),” the email says.

Associated Press writer Gillian Flaccus in Costa Mesa, Calif., contributed to this story.

Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum and Matthew Daly at http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

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Asia-Pacific stocks took a beating early Monday after jobs data out of the U.S. last week revived fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy.

Japan’s Nikkei was 1.7 percent down in early trading at 8,797.89. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 fell 2.1 percent to 4,154.90. New Zealand’s NZX 50 declined 0.7 percent to 3,279.30. South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index slid 2.5 percent to 1,821.65.

Companies that count on brisk economic growth to fuel their revenues were hit hard. Japan’s Hitachi Construction Machinery lost 4.3 percent. Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. tumbled 4.4 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.2 percent lower Friday, wiping out its gain for the week, on the heels of a dismal jobs report.

The Labor Department reported that no jobs were added in the U.S. in August. It was the worst employment report in 11 months and renewed fears that another recession could be on the way.

The lack of hiring in the U.S. last month surprised investors. Economists were expecting 93,000 jobs to be added. Previously reported hiring figures for June and July were revised lower. The average work week declined and hourly earnings fell. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent. The rate has been above 9 percent in all but two months since May 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 253.31 points to close at 11,240.26. It was the biggest fall in two weeks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.5 percent to 1,173.97. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.6 percent to 2,480.33.

The sour jobs report comes on top of Europe’s debt problems, which are still dragging on. Meanwhile, China’s economy is showing signs of slower growth.

Those problems could weaken global demand for many kinds of commodities including oil and metals. Inpex Corp., Japan’s leading energy explorer, sank 3.1 percent.

Investors seeking a relatively stable sore of value during times of economic turbulence in financial markets have been scooping up gold, sending its price up 50 percent over the past year.

Gold-related shares were among the few posting gains Monday. Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd., the country’s top gold miner, rose 2 percent.

In currencies, the euro weakened to $1.4165 from $1.4187 in late Friday trading in New York. The yen weakened to 76.77 yen from 76.72 yen.

Benchmark crude for October delivery slipped 62 cents to $85.83 per barrel on Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.48, or 2.8 percent, to finish at $86.45 on the Nymex on Friday.

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An early stock market rally faded Wednesday, leaving indexes with small losses in early afternoon trading. The price of gold slumped 4 percent as investors became less fearful.

A sharp increase in orders for long-lasting goods in July eased fears that the U.S. was headed for another recession. Companies placed more orders for aircraft, automobiles and other durable goods in July. Orders rose 4 percent, the biggest increase since March.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 37 points, or 0.3 percent, at 11,140, erasing a morning jump of 115 points. It gained 322 points the day before.

The stock market often makes big swings in late August with fewer traders at their desks, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG. Lower trading volumes often make for a more volatile market.

“It’s kind of crazy. I blinked and in 15 minutes the market had turned,” Greenhaus said. “But in the last two weeks of August, wild swings like this are not out of the ordinary.”

Two days after trading above $1,900 an ounce for the first time, gold fell $72 to $1,788 as investors became less skittish. Gold has risen 8 percent since Aug. 5, when the stock market entered a two-week period of heavy turbulence.

The S&P 500 index fell 4 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,158. It gained 38 points Tuesday, also its best day since Aug. 11. The Nasdaq fell 21 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,424.

Bank of America Corp. rose 8 percent, the most of any stock in the Dow average, after analysts said a four-day slide that erased 15 percent of the bank’s value had been overdone. Toll Brothers rose 4 percent after the homebuilder reported quarterly income that trounced analysts’ estimates.

Stocks have made huge moves this month after Europe’s debt crisis flared up again and as signs emerged that the U.S. might slip back into recession. The Dow has moved by more than 300 points seven days in August. A 200-point jump early Monday dwindled to a 36-point gain by the close of trading.

Indexes jumped sharply Tuesday as investors brushed off a pair of weak economic reports and an earthquake that shook the East Coast. Even after Tuesday’s rally, the Dow is down 8 percent in August. The S&P 500 index has lost 11 percent, putting it on track for its worst August since 1998.

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Germany’s economic growth more or less ground to a halt in the second quarter, in another downbeat sign for the global economy.

Its quarterly growth of only 0.1 percent was way below market expectations for a 0.5 percent increase, and follows hard on the heels of similarly disappointing readings for France and the United States.

Until now Germany’s economy, Europe’s biggest, had been growing strongly as its world-renowned companies tapped export markets all around the world, particularly in faster-growing emerging countries. Its industrial prowess had in many ways cushioned it from a government debt crisis that’s afflicting the 17 countries that use the euro.

Germany’s state statistical agency said Tuesday that lagging consumer spending and construction investment were largely behind the growth slowdown in the April-June period.

As well as being below expectations, the second-quarter figure was way down on the 1.3 percent growth recorded in the first quarter, when the economy was boosted by strong exports of cars and industrial machinery. That figure itself was revised down from 1.5 percent in earlier releases.

Top German corporate executives have cautioned that growth could be less impressive in the second half of the year due to volatile raw material prices and economic and financial turmoil over the heavy levels of government debt in Europe and the U.S.

The second-quarter figure looked better compared with the same quarter a year ago, rising 2.7 percent.

Slowing growth in Germany weighs on overall growth in the eurozone. A slowdown in the zone’s biggest country would give the European Central Bank more reason to avoid more interest rate increases this year. Analysts said the German figures may mean that eurozone economic growth for the quarter _ due later _ could well be below the 0.3 percent forecast.

“The weak data for Germany follow recent numbers showing zero growth in France in the second quarter, and raises concerns that the euro area’s hitherto strong core countries are undergoing a much deeper than previously thought soft-patch,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at financial information company Markit.

It’s not just Europe that’s slowed down. The U.S. economy is growing at a far slower rate than previously thought while figures Monday showed Japan contracted further in the second quarter in the wake of March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

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