Exxon: Record profits smash own record

This is just ... sick.

It is amazing that there was a big push to explore for oil off of the Florida Coast to reduce costs and recently I heard that do to the demand reduction there was a slow down of refining the oil. They have us and we are stuck as long as we use petroleum products.
Another thing was that two companies produce the oil for the rest, Exxon and Shell. They control it all.

This is absolutely ridiculous. In this time of economic crisis, shouldn't we be worried about keeping money in the pockets of the millions of American citizens rather than seeing ONE company with such huge profits? Lower gas to $1/gallon for awhile to even things out. I'm not suggesting that Exxon take a loss. I'm simply stating that billions of dollars in profits hardly seems fair, and it's a slap in the face to all of the American citizens who are working hard every day just to try and make ends meet. Maybe things will change now that Mr. Texas man is out of office.

(Sigh), oil companies are so easy to bash. Espcially the publicly traded ones.

But, world oil supply- and to the extent that price can be controlled, its price as well- is almost entirely controlled by state-owned oil companies like Aramco and Pemex. Over which the USA has no control.

And so, demogogues bash the publicly traded companies- because they're accessable targets, I suppose.

But, here's an idea: if you think Exxon-Mobil's profits are obsence then why don't you buy some shares? Then (you greedy pig you) you, too, can share in the "obsence" profits- or give them away to the charities of your choice.

So why couldn't the oil companies loan the automakers the bailout money?

After all, it's in the oil companies' best interest to see automakers stayy alive, right?

And ceetainly they would MAKE SURE that their investment would be profitable, right?

If there are some anti-trust laws that would be a problem, surely between the government, oil companies & automakers, they could have some lawyers find some legitmate loopholes, right?

When are people going to wake up and stop buying gasoline from Exxon and Mobil gas stations? The fact that Americans are getting raped at the pump by this company in these times is absolutely inexcusable. I wonder who is left in Washington DC that has Exxon/Mobil on the other end of their puppet strings.

The final nail in the US economic coffin was $5.00 gal. gasoline.

Actually, if the price of gas would go to ten bucks an hour---the overseas plants would HAVE to come back here. But, this profiteering during a time of WAR only shows we should nationalize them, seize all assets, seize the private accounts of the executives, before in Chevron like manner, they can join an administration that steals an election (Rice was an exec) and put them in jail.
Use that money to rebuild the middleast.
we did not NEED to give the Bankers the 'stimulus' money--MONEY THAT THEY DID NOT USE TO EXTEND CREDIT TO SMALL BUSINESSES. Money they instead SQURRELLED AWAY OFF SHORE or used to give themselves bonuses.
GET THE 350 BILLION BACK. GIVE EACH ADULT 3 GRAND.

Exxon is going to drop rapidly in revenue. Let's see if we consider helping them if they lose money.

The final nail in the US economic coffin was $5.00 gal. gasoline.

Posted by: Sailingwindward | January 30, 2009 10:46 AM

and if there wasn't any more proof of speculation causing the oil prices than the current cost of gas, I don't know what is. Once again shooting down that myth of trickle down. Folks........what more proof do you need to realize that the rich could give a rats butt about trickling on you?

Hey everyone, their net margin is 10%! That's not an obscene margin, it's not highway robbery, it's the same as many companies, including mine which has 1/100th the total revenue of XOM. We aren't here for the beer, we are in business to make money. We should all be happy that this is one company that won't need a bailout, won't lay anyone off, and pays lots of taxes.

"We don't care. We're Exxon/Mobil, so we don't have to"

"Mission Accomplished" - George W Bush/Dick Cheney

Good for Exxon and its workers!

Meanwhile, Shell Oil posted its first loss in many years. Doubtless Mr. Silva will devote a column to that, like he did to Exxon's profit.....

Josh...Grocery stores work on at best 2%. Should they raise that to maximize their profits?

Nothing better than profiting on the misery of others.

Poor lefties, screaming unfair and victimology again. Go get a new electric car or better yet a good ole bike (the Pork plan has millions for new trails!). Like Josh said, Exxon has a reasonable net, a non-bailout company with no layoffs. If you clowns would get off your obscene environmental restrictions Exxon would grow, add jobs, reduce gas and oil prices for regular folks, pay more taxes, and I would receive higher dividends. Go suck on your windmills, drill baby drill.
Better call Arnold, Calif. asking for environmental waivers on new "shovel ready" stimulus projects! You "greenies" are about to be run over by the bus.

Royal Dutch Shell posted its biggest quarterly fall in profit for 10 years yesterday, but still set a UK record for its annual results. The company made $4.8bn (£3.4bn) in the last three months of 2008, 56 per cent less than in the previous quarter and 28 per cent less than in the same period of 2007. But full-year profits, buoyed by sky-high oil prices earlier in the year, hit a record-breaking $31.4bn, 14 per cent higher than in 2007.

Bruce?

bill r: if the grocery store market supports that, why not? i'm guessing the reason they have low margin isn't because they're being nice, it's because they have tough competition

Stop Babbling Bubba; or at least read it before you post it.
Did you enjoy paying $4.00 a gallon to help them set records?

The final nail in the US economic coffin was $5.00 gal. gasoline.
Posted by: Sailingwindward | January 30, 2009 10:46 AM"

I tend to agree with this. I believe the $4-$5 gas last summer had more to do with this mess than is being talked about.

Tens of millions of average to poor Americans are driving around in $40k SUVs and huge pickup trucks. To feed them they had to put the fuel on the CC and roll over the totals for months and months. They have not yet recovered financially from this debacle and may in fact never recover.

I do have a solution to the gas guzzler problem;

With the next issue of new license tags by all the states a sticker will be placed in the lower right area of the bumper. It will read:
55 or 65 or 65+
Based on EPA combined MPG if your vehicle gets under 20mpg you will be limited to 55mph.
If 20-25 you can go 65mph.
If 25mpg plus you can go over 65mph where legal.

This will encourage people to drive sensible cars instead of the gigantic gas guzzlers they now employ to replace their small unit.

Josh...Grocery stores work on at best 2%. Should they raise that to maximize their profits?

Posted by: bill r. | January 30, 2009 12:01 PM

Your analogy is ridiculous-

What is the entry cost to get into the grocery store business-compared to the oil business?
What is the risk of running a grocery store compared to the risk of running an oil company?
What is the volatility in pricing in the oil industry compared to the grocery store business? How much of a grocery store's distribution is frequently at the mercy of wars or terrorism?
Keep in mind, in the last business cycle alone there has been a swing of 300% up and down in the price of the oil companies only raw material.
___
High entry cost and risk are key limiters to how many producers ( oil companies) there are in the industry segment.
___
As a result, there are few producers splitting a very large revenue business in the US-we use an awful lot of oil, delivered to us by a very few number of PUBLICLY traded and owned companies.
___
So- If you have large sack of money and you want to choose between investing in oil or grocery stores – wouldn’t you ask for a higher rate of return from the oil co vs. the grocery store ?
___
Don’t you tend to get better interest returns from a high risk speculative stock funds compared to a 18 month secured CD ?
___
Bottom line- all industries are different, oil companies profits are a reflection of the scope of the business- grocery stores and oil companies are entirely different business models.
___
A 10% return on a highly speculative business like oil refining and producing is completely reasonable.

Flo,
Of course Bubba Porter (not Bubba) enjoyed paying it on ideological grounds.

Josh...Grocery stores work on at best 2%. Should they raise that to maximize their profits?

Posted by: bill r. | January 30, 2009 12:01 PM

Your analogy is ridiculous-

What is the entry cost to get into the grocery store business-compared to the oil business?
What is the risk of running a grocery store compared to the risk of running an oil company?
What is the volatility in pricing in the oil industry compared to the grocery store business? Keep in mind, in the last business cycle alone there has been a swing of 300% up and down in the price of the oil companies only raw material.

High entry cost and risk are key limiters to how many producers ( oil companies) there are in the industry segment.
As a result, there are few producers splitting a very large revenue business in the US-we use an awful lot of oil, delivered to us by a very few number of PUBLICLY traded and owned companies.

So- If you have large sack of money and you want to choose between investing in oil or grocery stores – wouldn’t you ask for a higher rate of return from the oil co vs. the grocery store ? Don’t you tend to get better interest returns from a high risk speculative stock funds compared to a 18 month secured CD ?

Bottom line- all industries are different, oil companies profits are a reflection of the scope of the business- grocery stores and oil companies are entirely different business models. A 10% return on a highly speculative business like oil refining and producing is completely reasonable.

Josh...Grocery stores work on at best 2%. Should they raise that to maximize their profits?

Posted by: bill r. | January 30, 2009 12:01 PM

bill r-

Your analogy is ridiculous-

What is the entry cost to get into the grocery store business-compared to the oil business?
What is the risk of running a grocery store compared to the risk of running an oil company?
What is the volatility in pricing in the oil industry compared to the grocery store business? Keep in mind, in the last business cycle alone there has been a swing of 300% up and down in the price of the oil companies only raw material.

High entry cost and risk are key limiters to how many producers ( oil companies) there are in the industry segment.
As a result, there are few producers splitting a very large revenue business in the US-we use an awful lot of oil, delivered to us by a very few number of PUBLICLY traded and owned companies.

So- If you have large sack of money and you want to choose between investing in oil or grocery stores – wouldn’t you ask for a higher rate of return from the oil co vs. the grocery store ? Don’t you tend to get better interest returns from a high risk speculative stock funds compared to a 18 month secured CD ?

Bottom line- all industries are different, oil companies profits are a reflection of the scope of the business- grocery stores and oil companies are entirely different business models. A 10% return on a highly speculative business like oil refining and producing is completely reasonable.

Heartburn, or as someone affectionately calls you, prepuke,

You make a glancing comment on the real reason for the oil companies get 10%, but I can sum it up for you in 1 word......Monopoly. When dealing with a finite material, most new companies can not just dig a hole and pump oil. I would imagine that 95% of available oil in the world is under stake and claim.