Strong demand for natural gas, combined with soaring realizations, helped drive record breaking profits for ExxonMobil in the third quarter. 

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Natural gas realizations jumped 22% because of European supply concerns and efforts to build inventory ahead of winter. That more than offset decreasing crude realizations, which fell 12% on modest supply increases. 

The “strong gas realizations” were not driven only by LNG trading, said CFO Kathryn Mikells, as the overall portfolio is 60% natural gas and 40% liquefied natural gas. 

“LNG tends to be tied to crude-related prices, with a three- to six-month lag,” she said during a call to discuss financial results on Friday. “So we’re seeing the benefit of that lag now kind of coming through our results and that really came...