Selling oil and natural gas wasn’t profitable, but selling an oil and natural gas field helped Honolulu-based Barnwell Industries Inc. earn a profit in its recently completed fiscal year.

Barnwell, in a financial report issued Wednesday, said it almost doubled its net income to $1.3 million in its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, up from $672,000 in the same period last year.

The company earned the higher profit off dramatically less revenue — $17.5 million in the recent fiscal year compared with $31.4 million the prior year, a drop that reflected lower prices for oil and gas as well as the loss in production due to the asset sale.

Barnwell said its enhanced profit was largely due to selling an oil and natural gas property in Canada that was responsible for 70 percent of the firm’s natural gas production last year.

The property sale, which closed in September, generated $14.2 million in proceeds, though Barnwell recognized only a $6.2 million pretax gain so far because roughly half the proceeds are being held in escrow until tax clearances are obtained. About $4.8 million of the sales proceeds were used to pay off debt.

Another major contributor to Barnwell’s fiscal year earnings was residential real estate sales. The company, which has land holdings adjacent to the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaii island, said it achieved a $3.2 million operating profit from 17 lot sales in the recent fiscal year compared with a $636,000 operating profit from three lot sales a year earlier.

Sales of oil and natural gas produced a $366,000 operating loss in the recent fiscal year compared with a $5.4 million operating profit a year earlier. Barnwell said the recent result was largely due to lower gas and oil prices as well as lower production.

Up through the fiscal third quarter that ended June 30, Barnwell had posted a $1.5 million net loss but relied on a strong fourth quarter to earn a profit for the year. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Barnwell said its profit totaled $2.8 million on $3.1 million in revenue compared with a $2.2 million profit on $9.5 million in revenue for the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Barnwell stock, which are lightly traded, closed Wednesday at $2.05. That was up from the previous closing trade at $2.01 on Friday. The company’s stock over the past 52 weeks has closed between a high of $3.13 on May 5 and a low of $1.74 on Aug. 11.