CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Canadian oil and gas company Petro-Canada reported Thursday that its second-quarter earnings surged 77 percent higher from a year ago.

The integrated oil company said its April-June net income was just under $1.5 billion Canadian dollars ($1.49 billion), or C$3.10 ($3.07) per share, up from C$845 million ($838 million) or C$1.71 ($1.69) per share in the year-earlier period.

With operating profit rising 43 percent to $1.15 billion Canadian dollars, Chief Executive Ron Brenneman told analysts that it was "another strong quarter, both operationally and financially."

Brenneman said a healthy boost to upstream, or oil-producing operations, came from record-breaking crude prices and a rebound in natural gas.

But he added that the refining business was much tougher, with its downstream operating earnings coming in at zero, down by $249 million Canadian dollars ($245 million) over the same quarter in 2007 as margins tightened in the distribution and retailing business.

Petro-Canada's fuel-selling business maintained its No. 1 market share position in the urban retail market despite easing in demand from both retail and wholesale customers in response to higher prices.

"The falloff in demand is putting a lot of downward pressure on gasoline margins. But distillate margins are

NEW YORK (AP) -- Railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter earnings fell 19 percent, mostly due to one-time charges related to an environmental cleanup in Montana.

The company also issued a third-quarter profit forecast range mostly below Wall Street's expectations.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern earned $350 million, or $1 per share in the second quarter, compared with $433 million, or $1.20 per share, in the same quarter of 2007.

The 2008 period included charges of 31 cents per share in cleanup costs, and 3 cents per share resulting from a fatal grade crossing accident. Excluding these items, the company would have earned $1.34 per share.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $4.48 billion. The company attributed revenue growth mostly to an improvement in yields and higher fuel surcharges.

Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expected a profit of $1.30 per share on revenue of $4.43 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

Agricultural products revenue increased 36 percent, due primarily to strong unit volumes in ethanol, corn, soybeans and wheat. Coal volumes grew 16 percent. Industrial products revenue rose by 10 percent, while consumer products revenue rose 12 percent.

Each of the business units also benefited from increased fuel surcharges the company passes on to its