>$278,000-an-hour refining loss saps Chevron's profit picture

EARNINGS - Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. energy company, said fourth-quarter net income dropped 37 per cent as slumping demand for diesel and gasoline outweighed gains from higher oil production and prices.

Profit fell to $3.07 billion US, or $1.53 a share, from $4.9 billion, or $2.44, a year earlier, Chevron said Friday.

The decline was Chevron's biggest in a fourth quarter since 2001.

Chevron's refineries and filling stations lost $278,000 an hour as the recession spurred a 9.9 per cent drop in demand for diesel and other distillate fuels.