Oil companies posting record quarterly profits

[Little Texan]

Exxon Mobil earns $10.4 billion in quarter
By STEVE QUINN
Associated Press
Posted: July 27, 2006
Dallas - The Exxon Mobil profit machine clocked in at $4.7 million per hour in the April-June period as soaring oil prices and higher output boosted its performance by 36% from a year ago.

The company's $10.4 billion second-quarter profit, announced Thursday, was the second best quarterly performance ever for a publicly traded company, drawing praise from Wall Street and ire from some politicians.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC accelerated its second-quarter earnings even faster, posting net income of $7.3 billion, an increase of 40% from the year before.

Crude-oil prices are hovering near $75 a barrel, and analysts do not foresee a sharp drop anytime soon given the world's rising appetite for fuel and supply threats in the Middle East, Africa and beyond, which pump fear into the market.

As long as the global economy keeps chugging along, analysts say the industry can expect more record-breaking profits throughout the remainder of the year.

"The rising tide lifts all boats," Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said.

But the oil and gas industry's profit surge comes as motorists in the U.S. pay an average of $3 a gallon at the pump and as Washington lawmakers consider opening to drilling areas of the Gulf of Mexico currently off-limits - both of which have generated political backlash.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said Thursday that American consumers have been "tipped upside down and have (had) their savings shaken out of their pockets at the gas pump."

Kenneth Cohen, Exxon Mobil Corp.'s vice president of public affairs, said such criticism is misplaced.

"Sometimes I feel like they are trying to run against us as opposed to their opponents," he said.

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, understands the climate outside its Irving, Texas, headquarters is one of concern for how gas price volatility affects family budgets, Cohen added.

"What are we doing about it?" he said. "We are investing at record levels."

Across the globe, energy-intensive businesses such as shippers and chemical manufacturers are feeling the pinch from higher prices, although oil exporting nations, particularly in the Middle East, are experiencing rapid economic growth.

Boosting production
Exxon Mobil said it pumped 6% more oil and natural gas than it did during the same quarter a year earlier.

Other major oil companies reported big numbers for the quarter this week as well.

BP PLC said its quarterly profit rose 30% to $7.3 billion. ConocoPhillips said its earnings rose 65% to $5.18 billion. Chevron Corp. reports its second-quarter results today.

These five were expected to earn an estimated $33.6 billion, or a 32% boost, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. But the first four have already reported earnings of more than $30 billion - a jaw-dropping surprise even for optimistic Wall Street analysts.

Exxon Mobil executives said their success was based on a pretty simple formula: Produce more fuel, and command higher prices for it.

"We continue to see demand growth year over year," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations, told analysts. "We're selling everything we can make."

Exxon Mobil's second-quarter earnings amounted to $1.72 per share, compared with a profit of $7.64 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year ago.

The results came in behind Exxon Mobil's record profit of $10.71 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Revenue rose to $99.03 billion from $88.57 billion in the prior-year quarter. That was short of Exxon Mobil's record third-quarter revenue of $100.72 billion - which also stands as record revenue generated by any U.S. public company in a quarter.

Its shares fell 13 cents to close at $66.47 on the New York Stock Exchange after reaching an all-time high of $67.65 earlier in the session.

Congress has been urging the big oil companies to put more of their profits toward boosting the supply of energy for consumers. And this week the Senate sought to help out the industry by working on an election-year bill that would open a large area of the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.


Link (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=477361)

[floyd95]

yeah we should have all invested in big oil day one of the bush administration


i know, i know, he's not the whole problem, but he has created a great deal of geopolitical instability with his broken foreign policy

companies are earning record profits under his admin, too bad they haven't been reflected in growing wages, jobs and standard of living, at least they haven't in houston

[Little Texan]

Originally posted by Little Texan
Exxon Mobil executives said their success was based on a pretty simple formula: Produce more fuel, and command higher prices for it.



Oh, so that's how you do it! Never would have figured that one out! :rolleyes: Pricks.

[floyd95]

yeah, you know there are fewer companies producing and refining the product, they control the supply and really have no incentive to bring down prices

in a true free market system, this would correct itself

[floyd95]

well when the US economy stalls and china crashes then prices will fall

[Cathedral]

Problem is, consumption of this fuel hasn't dropped any.
The price goes up and it seems I'm the only one who is driving less.

I don't get it...but if people stopped filling their tanks to the top they wouldn't be making these record profits like they are and they would have to drop the price.

This time around it's the consumer who is driving up the price because we refuse to conserve.

Something is very wrong with people's mentality these days.

[Ellyllions]

Cathedral that's one part of the problem.

The other part is that Pres. and Congress could stop this. They honestly could force the price per gallon down...if they wanted to.

It rotted my garters last week to hear that they were going to work on that Stem-Cell bill (knowing it would be vetoed...again) instead of starting on this price issue. Sure, the Stem Cell research bill should have been passed. But in my mind, they're wasting time and my tax money flailing with it again knowing that it wasn't going anywhere under this President.

Congress is stalling on both this issue and the immigration issue. Shit, they're stalling on everything that could be addressed today.

[WACF]

We hit $1.20 / litre here a few days ago.

Greed...pure fucking greed.

[FORD]

Originally posted by Cathedral
Problem is, consumption of this fuel hasn't dropped any.
The price goes up and it seems I'm the only one who is driving less.

I don't get it...but if people stopped filling their tanks to the top they wouldn't be making these record profits like they are and they would have to drop the price.

This time around it's the consumer who is driving up the price because we refuse to conserve.

Something is very wrong with people's mentality these days.

No, you ain't the only one. Not that I was driving much during the week anyway. Didn't need to do so with the office being only a mile away. Walk when the weather's good. Take the bus when it ain't.

But this is my second consecutive summer without a road trip and THAT's what pisses me off. That's my freedom. Call it a "drug" even to some extent. I probably wouldn't be doing it this year anyway due to other financial restraints, but it sucks ass that I can't do so, while some quadruple-chinned son of a bitch gets a half-billion dollar retirement package, and his company arrogantly says "What are we doing about it? We are investing at record levels."

Or in other words, "Fuck you. We're criminals and we KNOW were criminals but we know the criminal in the White House, so what the fuck are you gonna do about it"

I'm beginning to think a little "Old West" justice might be appropriate with these bastards.

Hang em at high noon.

[WACF]

Originally posted by FORD

I'm beginning to think a little "Old West" justice might be appropriate with these bastards.

Hang em at high noon.

That is exactly what needs to be done!

[ELVIS]

Oil good...

Democrats BAD...


:D

[FORD]

Originally posted by ELVIS
Oil good...

Democrats BAD...


:D

Are you working for Senator Landrieu now or something?

Sounds like her standard voting record.

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by FORD
No, you ain't the only one. Not that I was driving much during the week anyway. Didn't need to do so with the office being only a mile away. Walk when the weather's good. Take the bus when it ain't.

But this is my second consecutive summer without a road trip and THAT's what pisses me off. That's my freedom. Call it a "drug" even to some extent. I probably wouldn't be doing it this year anyway due to other financial restraints, but it sucks ass that I can't do so, while some quadruple-chinned son of a bitch gets a half-billion dollar retirement package, and his company arrogantly says "What are we doing about it? We are investing at record levels."

Or in other words, "Fuck you. We're criminals and we KNOW were criminals but we know the criminal in the White House, so what the fuck are you gonna do about it"

I'm beginning to think a little "Old West" justice might be appropriate with these bastards.

Hang em at high noon.

How many chins do YOU have, Dave? ;)

I don't like the gas prices either, but the fact is that the oil companies are operating within the limits of the law. Real change can come only with changes to the law, or reduced consumption... ideally both.

[FORD]

Since when is price fixing "within the limits of the law"?

Or the fact that so few oil companies now exist because existing anti-trust laws were not enforced when the bastards merged in the first place.

Basically, the very existence of "Exxon-Mobil" or "Chevron-Texaco" is illegal.

But if a corporatist Congress and an oil industry owned executive branch won't do anything within existing laws, let alone change those that may be neccessary, then who is going to stop the bastards??

And as for reduced consumption, as I said, I've done more than my part on that one.

[Nitro Express]

The real issue is cheap oil has peaked. The oil companies are going to maximize their profits why they can. The real reason no new refineries or tankers have been built to match the growing worldwide demand is because cheap oil is running out and why invest in a product that is hitting diminishing returns?

There will always be oil but not cheap oil and a small reduction in supply can spike prices 400% or more.

Oil is not just moving cars and planes around. Drugs, plastics, herbicides, fibers are made from oil. Without it, you don't have the computer you are reading this on. Food doesn't get harvested or delivered to your town. Your carpet, roof, and clothes are gone.

Getting off of oil has been a tough and expensive problem. That's why low oil prices killed the incentive to get off of it.

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by FORD
Since when is price fixing "within the limits of the law"?

Or the fact that so few oil companies now exist because existing anti-trust laws were not enforced when the bastards merged in the first place.

Basically, the very existence of "Exxon-Mobil" or "Chevron-Texaco" is illegal.

But if a corporatist Congress and an oil industry owned executive branch won't do anything within existing laws, let alone change those that may be neccessary, then who is going to stop the bastards??

And as for reduced consumption, as I said, I've done more than my part on that one.

What is your evidence of price fixing?

The oil industry is doing the same thing that any other business or corporation is doing - trying to earn the most money possible for its owners / shareholders.

The government could impose greater restrictions on the oil industry, but it hasn't. Therein lies a big part of the problem. The other big part of the problem, as I said, is America's thirst for oil. When people stop buying SUVs, stop running their air conditioners nonstop, and begin true conservation methods, some improvement will be seen.

[Guitar Shark]

The bottom line is that your anger should be directed at the government, and consumers themselves... not the oil industry.

[Ellyllions]

I dunno...by the time 2010 rolls around there will be only 5 public beach piers around the Crystal Coast of NC. Reason, because the property is being sold at over 200% profit.

Can you tell me who's buying up all that beach front property? ; )

Point is: Someone is getting richer and richer while Middle America has to figure out how to conserve the little resources they already have. Because of these Oil Companies and their historic profits the gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger.

That's a problem too ya know.

God, I hope our kids and grandkids have the brains to fix all this shit.

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by FORD
And as for reduced consumption, as I said, I've done more than my part on that one.

You sold your F150 ??

You ride a bicycle to work ??

You saw president algores film, three times ??

Your computer and your cell phone are made of hemp ??

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by Ellyllions

That's a problem too ya know.

Are you poor ??

God, I hope our kids and grandkids have the brains to fix all this shit.

While you do what ??

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by ELVIS
Your computer and your cell phone are made of hemp ??

That might explain why he spends so much time online... ;)

[Kristy]

I'm gonna bitch because I can. I just put $35 in my tank today that has to last me for a minimum for 4 1/2 weeks so I can still live within the boundaires of my budget to make payments on my car, student loans, food, rent and utlilties.

Of course it won't last me that long but as long as these FAT-as-fUCK cocksuckers at British Petroleum and Exxon don't give a shit about retuning any of their profit, they can all fucking die painfully and slowly of cancer. The only problem being, of course, that'll never happen, either.

[ELVIS]

Did you mean retuning or returning ??

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by Kristy
I'm gonna bitch because I can. I just put $35 in my tank today that has to last me for a minimum for 4 1/2 weeks so I can still live within the boundaires of my budget to make payments on my car, student loans, food, rent and utlilties.



Well, In a perfect world, Gas would be 10 cents and your minimum wage job would pay $400,000 and you wouldn't have to suffer through school...

Wait a sec...

In a perfect world, you wouldn't even have to work...

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by Ellyllions
I dunno...by the time 2010 rolls around there will be only 5 public beach piers around the Crystal Coast of NC. Reason, because the property is being sold at over 200% profit.

Can you tell me who's buying up all that beach front property? ; )

Point is: Someone is getting richer and richer while Middle America has to figure out how to conserve the little resources they already have. Because of these Oil Companies and their historic profits the gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger.

That's a problem too ya know.

God, I hope our kids and grandkids have the brains to fix all this shit.

You touched on another important issue as well.
Just wait until you see the bullshit the Republicans have attached to the next minimum wage increase bill.
They pretty much insured its failure before it even reaches them by including a tax cut and something about some pills that are poison.

They are playing political games with people's incomes.
If that doesn't make you think twice about these self serving party's then you're just plain lost.

I do alright for myself, i have no real problems doing what i want at this point...but it took a long time to get here and it cost me dearly in many ways.

it's time to send a message to these jokers and if they don't get it then we make them sit down for a few years to think about who they actually work for.

I'm fed up, and I want drastic change in the way this country does business here at home AND abroad.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Again, the middle class takes it on the chin. huge gas prices, 72 percent hikes on our gas and electric bills, and everything the fat bloated government can tax us on. We even have a flush tax in Maryland.

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Again, the middle class takes it on the chin. huge gas prices, 72 percent hikes on our gas and electric bills, and everything the fat bloated government can tax us on. We even have a flush tax in Maryland.

It wouldn't be so bad for families as long as wages increased along with the cost of living.

I'm a tight ass, and THAT is a total reversal of how i used to spend money.
I keep socking it into the bank and only spend what i have to spend to survive.
I am obsessed with saving money and i'm not really sure what i'm saving it for.

I don't take fancy vacations, I don't live high on the hog, i am just worried that the economy is going to crash and i'm gonna need it i guess, lol.

In the meantime, our leaders keep investing in other countries bottom lines with Nafta, Cafta, Foreign Aide Packages, etc.

It sickens me to no end how the people keep getting shit on while reading and hearing reports of record profits for the Fat Cats.

[Kristy]

Oh, I don't know. It's way too hot for proper grammar today.

[Kristy]

Originally posted by Cathedral
It wouldn't be so bad for families as long as wages increased along with the cost of living.

I'm a tight ass, and THAT is a total reversal of how i used to spend money.
I keep socking it into the bank and only spend what i have to spend to survive.
I am obsessed with saving money and i'm not really sure what i'm saving it for.



Welcome to George Bush's America.

[FORD]

Originally posted by Cathedral


it's time to send a message to these jokers and if they don't get it then we make them sit down for a few years to think about who they actually work for.

I'm fed up, and I want drastic change in the way this country does business here at home AND abroad.

FORD/Cathedral 2008!!! :cool:

[FORD]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
We even have a flush tax in Maryland.

A flush tax?? Does that mean what I think it does?

And how the HELL would they enforce that? A meter on every toilet?

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by FORD
FORD/Cathedral 2008!!! :cool:

Hell yeah, a return to checks and balances...i'm down with that.

A long time ago i wondered how things would go if we had one of each party elected to one Administration.

It's an experiment i'd be willing to try at least once.

And the motivation is fair and equal representation for ALL americans as opposed to just one half of the country being represented every 4 to 8 years.

The two party system, i believe, contributes to things not getting done, or things getting done too slowly for our own good.

[FORD]

The two party system wouldn't be so bad if it WAS two parties. The problem with the current bunch is that the neocon "Republicans" and the DLC-AIPAC "Democrats" are one in the same. Both corporatist. Both insanely "pro-Israel" (In the way that Monica was "pro-Clinton" :blow: )

One election - even a fair one - won't solve all the problems. But hopefully it will restore some checks and balances. And then eliminate these corrupt bastards one by one.

On the Mike Malloy show last night, he had this guy who was running for Congress, who just happenned to be the guy in Florida who admitted to writing a script for an electro-fraud voting machine a few years back..

But he actually said something even more interesting than that. This guy insisted that NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA and all this other global corporatist horseshit is NOT legal, because they were never ratified by 2/3 of the Senate, which is the requirement for such laws.

Now I don't know (and Mike Malloy didn't know) if that's an accurate statement or not. But could you imagine if all the damage that shit has done to this country was done under laws that don't even legally exist????

I'd say that's an issue that needs to be on the table in November.

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by FORD
The two party system wouldn't be so bad if it WAS two parties. The problem with the current bunch is that the neocon "Republicans" and the DLC-AIPAC "Democrats" are one in the same. Both corporatist. Both insanely "pro-Israel" (In the way that Monica was "pro-Clinton" :blow: )

One election - even a fair one - won't solve all the problems. But hopefully it will restore some checks and balances. And then eliminate these corrupt bastards one by one.

On the Mike Malloy show last night, he had this guy who was running for Congress, who just happenned to be the guy in Florida who admitted to writing a script for an electro-fraud voting machine a few years back..

But he actually said something even more interesting than that. This guy insisted that NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA and all this other global corporatist horseshit is NOT legal, because they were never ratified by 2/3 of the Senate, which is the requirement for such laws.

Now I don't know (and Mike Malloy didn't know) if that's an accurate statement or not. But could you imagine if all the damage that shit has done to this country was done under laws that don't even legally exist????

I'd say that's an issue that needs to be on the table in November.

Agreed, and anything that keeps the War and the Democrats soon to come denial of a minimum wage increase that is designed to make them look like they don't care about Mr. Blue Collar, off the table...will be progress in my book.

Both sides are doing nothing for us at the moment, they are ALL playing pre-election games and mind fucking the voters into supporting their secret agendas.

I've had it, man...I don't trust a single one of them with MY interests.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Originally posted by FORD
A flush tax?? Does that mean what I think it does?

And how the HELL would they enforce that? A meter on every toilet?

Well if you have County water you get a water bill, but homes with well water/septic systems basically just payed for filter systems to soften and clean their well water. Well the local government decided that a flush tax was needed for owners of homes with well water. So every time they flush their toilets they get taxed. Homeowners on our Eastern Shore were furious. They recently pitched in and posted a humongous bill board lambasting our Governor. It really doesn't matter anymore if you support Dems or Republicans, they are both out to drain us dry.

[FORD]

The latest I heard about the minimum wage increase was that the republicans were trying to tie it to an elimination of inheritance tax :rolleyes:

As if one had any fucking thing to do with the other?

The fact that the George Chimp Jr's and Paris Hilton's of the world skate through life because of what their grandparents did is sickening enough. The fact that lazy shits like them should be further rewarded in order to help people who are struggling to put gas in their tank and food on their fucking table is enough to make me recall Thomas Jefferson's advice about fertilizing trees....

:gun:

[Little Texan]

I've been saying this for a few months now, but come November, the Republicans in Congress are going to have hell to pay! I believe the American people have had enough...the anger is boiling over right now in the general populace. People are fed up with the record prices they are paying at the pump, the Republican Congress is doing fuck all about it despite mugging for the cameras a few months back pledging they would, and lying about it...they haven't done a damn fucking thing! I think what you are going to see happen in November is there is going to be a record turnout at the polls, and there is going to be a huge backlash against the Republicans. One by one these ineffective, self-serving, corrupt, fat cat bastards are going to be voted out, and the Democrats are going to take back the House and Senate from the Republicans. I can easily see it happening at the moment, no matter what our resident neocon friends here say to the contrary.

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
Well if you have County water you get a water bill, but homes with well water/septic systems basically just payed for filter systems to soften and clean their well water. Well the local government decided that a flush tax was needed for owners of homes with well water. So every time they flush their toilets they get taxed. Homeowners on our Eastern Shore were furious. They recently pitched in and posted a humongous bill board lambasting our Governor. It really doesn't matter anymore if you support Dems or Republicans, they are both out to drain us dry.

After i move i'll be using a well for my water. The toilet was installed by us so i don't know how they'll know when i flush.
There isn't a flush tax in Clay County anyway, but i'm just saying...How would they know if your gravity operated toilet is being flushed?
Shit flows downhill in my neck of the woods, literally.

All they tax me on is the land every year.