HOUSTON, July 5 Reuters Wall Street analysts sharply increased their Exxon Mobil Corp secondquarter profit estimates on Tuesday, after the largest U.S. oil producer projected it could almost double its firstquarter earnings.

Exxon39;s preview, released on Friday, signaled strong results ahead by oil companies and refiners and brought renewed criticism from the White House and fresh calls for a windfall profit tax by U.S. lawmakers under pressure from voters feeling pain at the pump. 

The White House repeated its call for oil companies to use their record profits to expand refining capacity, increase supply, and most urgently reduce costs for the American people.

This would be one of the strongest quarters in Exxon39;s history, said Credit Suisse analyst Manav Gupta in a note. The disclosures indicated an operating profit of about 16.8 billion, a historic quarterly peak. Official results are due July 29.

Analysts raised their quarterly profit outlook on Exxon to about 4.02 per share from 2.99 a share prior to the Friday securities filing.

The filing showed Exxon expects oil and gas operating profits of more than 10 billion, 4.5 billion from producing gasoline and diesel, and about 2 billion from chemicals and motor oils. Exxon, like other U.S. oil companies, has been plowing higher profits into debt reduction and plans to buy back up to 30 billion of its shares.

At the same time, spokesperson Casey Norton said Exxon was investing more than any other U.S. company to…