I am not crying for the oil companies but the notion that they make extraordinary profits is pretty ridiculous. Exxon made 40 billion last year, so this 11 billion$ quarter is pretty much in
line. Now lets take a look at the top ten most profitable industries in 2007 from Fortune mag:
See that...petroleum refining and production came in at nine and ten so you get screwed over more by a lot of other industries.
Exxon's profit as a % of sales is what counts not how many billions it makes which is only a measure of scale. Their current quarter was 8.4% of sales. A HUGE drop in % of profit from last year. The stock FELL on the announcement as it was 30 cents short of analysts estimated profit. So much of the crappy headlines we read are just sensationalism with no factual underpinning. Want someone to REALLY blame for oil prices? Look at ourselves and our government. We did nothing to improve our dependence over the last 30 years and now we are paying the price. We'll be paying $10 a gallon once China and India really get going.
Semi...I agree in principle with doing what we can to reduce OUR usage but with demand from India and China growing at nearly 20% a year and world wide demand increasing with population growth...there is no doubt that future demand will continue to be greater and we can expect to see higher prices as a result.
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Exxon Mobil Corp.’s second-quarter profit rose 14 percent from a year ago, as crude oil and natural gas prices continued their upward climb.
The Irving-based oil company posted second-quarter earnings of
$11.6 billion, or $2.22 per diluted share, on revenue of
$138 billion. That compares to earnings of
$10.2 billion, or $1.83 per diluted share, on revenue of
$98 billion during the same quarter last year.
Despite Exxon Mobil’s (NYSE:XOM) quarterly increase in profits and revenue, t
he company missed analyst estimates by posting earnings of $2.22 per diluted share —
30 cents below the average analyst estimate of $2.52 per share for the second quarter.
On Thursday morning, the company’s stock price dropped 2.7 percent to $82.09 per share, compared with $84.38 per share at close the day before.
Exxon Mobil said the company’s crude oil and natural gas earnings were partly offset by lower production levels, escalating operating costs and lower refining and chemical margins. The company also expanded exploration initiatives in the second quarter in response to growing global demand for crude oil and natural gas products.
“
Capital and exploration project spending increased to $7 billion in the second quarter, up 38 percent from last year,” the oil giant said. “For the first half of 2008, spending on capital and exploration projects was $12.5 billion.”
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