Record output and high oil prices helped French oil and gas major Total report a consensus-beating rise in net adjusted profit during the first three months of the year.
Total said it would surpass its production target for 2018.
Total's earnings echoed a similarly robust set of results from Royal Dutch Shell which also posted higher first quarter profits today.
The company said it produced 2.703 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, driven by ramp-ups and new acquisitions, up more than 5% compared to the same period in 2017, and above analysts' estimates of 2.663 million boe/d.
It said the ramp-up of production from new projects such as Yamal in Russia and Moho Nord in Congo, along with newly acquired assets, including Maersk Oil and Al Shaheen in Qatar, had enabled it to reach record production during the quarter.
It marked Total's highest output ever recorded in a quarter, surpassing a previous record of 2.66 million boe/d in 2003.
The company said its net adjusted profit came in at $2.9 billion, beating analysts' forecast of $2.77 billion in the quarter.
"Oil prices continued to rebound in the first quarter 2018," said Total's chief executive Patrick Pouyanne in a statement.
"Brent rose to an average of $67 per barrel, supported by strong demand, OPEC-non-OPEC compliance and geopolitical tensions," he also said.
"Cash flow after organic investments increased to $2.8 billion, up by more than 50% from a year ago, thanks to good operational performance and continued spending discipline," Pouyanne added.
Total said it expected to exceed its 6% production target for 2018 thanks to the start-ups and ramp-ups of new projects, such as Kashagan in Kazakhstan, Kaombo in Angola and Ichthys in Australia, later in the year.
It said this would support its target of 5% per year on average output growth between 2016 and 2022, even though Total noted that the global environment remained volatile with persistent uncertainty around the evolution of global supply.
Total also said it would continue to exercise discipline on its cost base.
It maintained 2018 investments at $15-$17 billion, with an operating expense target of $5.5 per barrel of oil equivalent. It said cost reduction plans were ongoing, with an objective of over $4 billion in 2018.
Total said it will raise first quarter interim dividend by 3.2%.
The company said in February that it planned to buy back up to $5 billion of stock over 2018-2020 to share the benefits of higher oil prices with investors.
