Does anyone else find it funny that the next story is about Bush meeting with automakers about energy issues? Please ignore that elephant in the room….

I am sorry, but isn’t it the whole idea of being in business to MAKE MONEY!?! It isn’t like we have an endless supply and they are cheating us. It isn’t like they control the prices (which is more due to OPEC et al, considering only 1/3 of our oil comes from US companies.)

The politicians just want camera time so they can get re-elected. Do you honestly, HONESTLY think that the politicians are going to get the prices back down low, keep them there, and make everyone happy? I think then the oil workers will start getting laid off, and then we will have the same problems as we do with the auto workers. Hmmmmmm. Oil and autos. What a coincidence.

Oil is a limited supply product. When demand goes UP, supply goes DOWN, prices go UP. Basic economics even a 5 year old could grasp and understand. Why are so many people mad at Oil Companies for making a profit?!? (and no, I don’t have any oil stock…wish I did)

If it is sooo limited and hard to get, why are profits so high. Profits are AFTER all expenses, costst, wages, and salaries are paid for. If oil is so scarce and hard to get, that would mean production/distribution costs would be higher meanin that profits would be LOWER. Politicians won’t do S***t because they are ALL (or at least most of them) are in the pockets of the Oil companies. The only thin that will chnage is if the PEOPLE stop using so much damn oil.

The only thing keeping the price high is the media and Wall Street. The media reports about Iran, prices go up. They say Terrorist, and prices go up. The oil companies are lucky enough that they’re on the winning end of the deal. It doesn’t cost any more today to get oil out of the ground than it did 5 years ago (when $1.60 was high). The oil company expenses haven’t gone up much, but the price they can sell their wares for has.

So, don’t blame the oil companies, blame to media and the Wall Street wackos who actually control the prices.

Keep in mind that Exxon pulled in $89 BILLION in revenue.

$8 billion in profit may seem like a lot, but a profit/income of 10% is far from extraordinary.

Doogs is right: 10% of 100 = $10 10% of 1,000 is 10X that..

Even Huck-the-President knows it’s mainly about the lack of refining. Not one single company is going to expose $2-3Bil on a new refinery with declining World supply, so no matter how much oil Hugo Chavez will sell us; we cannot process any more.

Here’s three places I propose the next refineries be placed:

Westport CT

Hilton Head Is SC

Naples FL

Note: I’d only want them in the Eastcoast to keep the transport cost to my local stations at a minimum. Think anyone of these people – who all drive Escalades and really need lotsa product – will welcome this new business to their neighborhood?

j i m

I am sick of people arguing margins. It is still the 5th biggest profit of any company EVER. So their over revenuel was really high, but $8billing is not excactly chump change either.

So Adam, what you are saying is that for instance WALMART makes $4 Billion in profit but the $40 Billion in revenue is what really matters, so they should lower all of thier prices and pass it on to the consumer? (my numbers are made up for my point) If a company makes a profit, why the HELL should they lower prices. It does not make business sense at all.

“so they should lower all of thier prices and pass it on to the consumer?”

Yes.

That guy deserrves his $400 million retirement package, that’s for sure.
Am I jealous? Absolutely.

So… if the revenue is $89 billion and profit is $8 billion, does that mean that they are only making (profit) 10% off each sale/galon?
So they make (profit wise) 30c off each gallon at $3/gallon? That would mean that if they slashed their profits to $0 gas would cost $2.70?
If that math is correct than someone other than Exxon is making the BIG bucks and Exxon is only making 10%, which I’d say is minimal.
Don’t forget that each gas station also adds a few cents here and there to make profit, so the $3 gallon is… say $2.95 before it gets to the gas station.

BTW, all this presumes that they make money only on GAS and that is not true, they also produce other oil based products, which very well might have higher margins slashing that 30c even lower.

That’s my $0.02 that do not affect your gas price.

“If that math is correct than someone other than Exxon is making the BIG bucks and Exxon is only making 10%, which I’d say is minimal.”

Yup. Commodity speculators and traders.

Which is why investigating the oil companies is a political ploy that will not make a damned difference.

“That guy deserves his $400 million retirement package”…Why? What did he do that was so extraordinary? If big oil profits are really just reaping the benefits of factors that are beyond their control, then he was just in the right place at the right time, and does not deserve any extraordinary retirement package.This guy did not found the company and made no revolutionary discoveries. Bill Gates deserves to reap the profits from the company he founded, but Lee R. Raymond was just another corporate manager and not even all that spectacular in that role. He didn’t revolutionize the industry, and Exxon under his watch was found to be negligent in one of history’s biggest environmental disasters, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, an accident where (although they made $36 billion last year) they still owe $4.5 billion in damages.

Its such a laugh to hear that the Bush administration is going to look into the behavior of the oil industry. Perhaps he and Cheney could have a private meeting with some oil company CEO’s to discuss energy policy, a casual chat among old thieves. Got to keep the federal drilling incentives and tax breaks coming, and exactly how much profit can one wash through a Bahamas subsidiary (Exxon has 7 of them). Heck – they could meet for a BBQ on the deck of the Exxon Condoleezza!

wtf guys!?!? all of you blabbering on about the refining companies, not the oil suppliers. the crude math was done above. most of the money made off the oil is by the people who supply the crude. have any of you seen kuwait, the united arab emirates, or saudi arabia? they are literally building 7-star paradises in the middle of a damn desert. ok, so yes they made it to the 5th highest profit quarter in commercial history, but then again when you have a monopoly its hard to not look like a crook. this business is costly and a 10% profit sounds reasonable. OPEC is making an absolute killing on their natural resources, but then again why not? they have all the oil in the world…its a fact of life.

Currently supplies are not an issue. To quote an OPEC official: “The healthy situation on the supply side is further demonstrated by OECD crude oil inventories, which are at comfortable levels both in absolute terms and in days of forward cover, while U.S. commercial crude oil stock levels have reached their highest levels in eight years,” Prices are being driven by speculation and supposedly limited refining capacity. The possibility of a US conflict with Iran and the oil market chaos that would follow started the recent price surge. I don’t think that the oil companies are particularly guilty of manipulating the markets in the short term (the surge is the result of Bush’s inept foreign policy), but they have managed to get the markets fixed in their favor for the long run. They represent a small group of companies that have a near monopoly on the US distribution of an important resource. They also receive large government subsidies, tax breaks, and other investment advantages in a variety of areas. They operate as semi-public entities, and its in the publics interest to make sure that they are not exploiting their unique position to fleece consumers. I think that’s why so many people find the $400 million dollar retirement package galling.