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ConocoPhillips reported its best quarterly profit in three years as coronavirus vaccines lifted economic activity and crude demand, bolstering the oil giant’s bottom line. 

The Houston independent producer on Tuesday said it made $2.1 billion in the three months ended June 30, more than doubling its earnings of $1 billion in the first quarter and $300 million a year ago. Revenue nearly doubled to $4 billion from $2.1 billion in the first quarter, and is up from $1.6 billion a year ago. 

CEO Ryan Lance said ConocoPhillips is poised to take advantage of oil’s recovery, especially after its $9.7 billion acquisition of Concho Resources in January that gave the independent highly-sought assets in the Permian Basin of West Texas. 

“We have a stronger, more flexible asset base and greater underlying efficiency resulting from the Concho acquisition and the restructuring work we’ve performed throughout our company,” Lance said in a statement Tuesday. 

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ConocoPhillips’ strong earnings are another sign of the industry’s recovery from the worst oil bust in decades caused by the global pandemic, which forced oil giants to slash spending and lay off thousands of employees. 

Yet even as oil prices have rebounded near $70 a barrel — above pre-pandemic levels — Big Oil and large independents like ConocoPhillips remain restrained. Instead of boosting production, ConocoPhillips reduced its capital spending plans for this year and said it would increase its share repurchases by $1 billion, returning $6 billion of capital to shareholders this year. 

ConocoPhillips in July also signed agreements to sell some non-core assets for $200 million, part of the company’s plan to generate $2 billion to $3 billion over the next year and a half. 

“The third quarter will be impacted by some planned maintenance on key fields in its global portfolio,” said Peter McNally, an energy leader at New York investment firm Third Bridge Group. “However, execution for ConocoPhillips has been strong and our experts point to a number of future opportunities for the company to continue to exploit.”