UPDATE 1-Natural Resource Q3 beats Wall Street view

* Q3 profit $0.36/unit beats est of $0.20

* Q3 revenue $64.0 mln vs est $56.1 mln

* Sees rebound in coal production and prices

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP.N), which leases coal reserves to miners, posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by higher coal price realizations and lower costs.

"As the U.S. economy improves, natural gas prices increase and utility stockpiles burn down, we expect both production and prices to rebound," Chief Operating Officer Nick Carter said.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company posted a net income of $25.2 million, or 36 cents per unit, compared with $36.2 million, or 55 cents per unit, a year ago.

Quarterly revenue for company, which leases its reserves to almost all public coal companies in the United States, barring a few western operators, dropped 16 percent to $63.9 million.

Analysts on average were looking for earnings of 20 cents a unit, before items, on revenue of $56.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Coal production, in the quarter, declined 4 percent, while average coal royalty revenue per ton rose about 11 percent.

Shares of the Houston-based company closed at $22.02 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)