Chevron Corp said its quarterly earnings more than doubled, beating Wall Street forecasts, as the second-largest U.S. oil company benefited from high oil prices and strong refinery margins.

Chevron's profit rose to $7.8 billion, or $3.92 per share, from $3.8 billion, or $1.87 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected $3.48 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 26 percent to $61.26 billion .

Chevron reported 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (bpd) of output, down from 2.74 million a year-ago.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged $112 per barrel in the quarter, down from $117 in the second quarter but up from $77 a year before.

On Thursday, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported sharp increases in quarterly profits that came in ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Chevron recorded a one-time gain of about $500 million from the sale of its Pembroke refinery to Valero Energy Corp.

In July, Chevron said a slower Gulf of Mexico project ramp-up and a Thai pipeline problem would trim its 2011 production by about 30,000 bpd.

Chevron shares were down slightly in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco and Matt Daily in New York, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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