CALGARY – Imperial Oil says its profit for the third quarter fell to $479 million, down 49 per cent from last year as a result of the drop in global crude oil prices.

The Calgary-based company says its net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 was 56 cents per share, down from $1.10 or $936 million in the third quarter of 2014.

Offsetting the price declines was a 26 per cent increase in production volumes, which averaged the equivalent of 385,000 barrels per day in the third quarter — the highest in more than a decade.

Imperial also says its capital and exploration spending was reduced to $1.142 million, down $292 million from a year before.

The company’s upstream arm, which includes exploration and production, recorded a $52 million net loss — a decline from the $532 million in profits recorded a year earlier.

Imperial’s downstream arm had $454 million in net income, up $111 million from a year earlier, mainly because of the favourable impact of a weaker Canadian dollar.

The chemical business had a record high quarterly profit of $78 million, up from $66 million a year earlier.