(Reuters) -ConocoPhillips ( COP ) beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as higher production offset lower realized prices.

Benchmark crude prices rose about 4% during the October-December quarter, encouraging companies to drill more.

However, ConocoPhillips' ( COP ) total average realized prices fell 10% to $52.37 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in the reported quarter.

The company's production for the reported quarter stood at 2.18 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up from 1.9 million boepd a year earlier, helping counteract the lower realized prices.

On an adjusted basis, ConocoPhillips ( COP ) reported a profit of $1.98 per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.84 according to data compiled by LSEG.