Exxon Mobil posts record U.S. profit

Let's hear it for these true-blue oil companies!

Raking in record profits at a time when Greenspan warns of damage all through the economy from high prices, and even Bush, who has oil in his veins rather than blood, feels compelled to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bleed some of the pressure off.

Obscene.

 

"Record profits" simply means that the combined company, Exxon-Mobil, had greater sales this year. The profit margin, before taxes I presume, is 10%. That's for what is historically their best quarter, and it will probably be down in the same range as last year when all is said and done (around 6% or so). That's pretty good net profit on an IBT basis, but it is what my company expects our division to do within the next two years or we're all out of our jobs. I wouldn't call it "obscene" at all; the owners of the company want more return than they would get putting their money in a CD.

And I don't believe the Reserve shouldt be used to mitigate market pricing of oil ... I can understand its use in a national emergency, but we really don't have a shortage, or an emergency. Whatever help you need to give people for fuel oil heating (where their lives are at stake) can be done without trying to soften the market for all of us to enjoy cheaper gasoline.

 

From the same article on yahoo.....

Unleaded gasoline (per gallon) $1.5926 $1.5845 $0.0081 -24.05% 62.82%


WHERE IS GAS $1.59????????

I Paid $2.67 per gallon for crappy unleaded...

NOW you know why they made so much profit...!!!

 

fshagan:

Your post is written from the perspective of seeing petroleum products as simply "another private commodity". In fact, gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oil and heating fuel long ago passed the threshhold into the realm of being a "public utility". It simply hasn't been officially institutionalized as such yet.

There are over 100 million of us in the U.S. who (including our families) would be classified as low- to low-moderate income. In my case, Social Security is the largest portion of my family's income now.

Yet the same proportion of us as higher-income folks need to own and drive vehicles---just as we need government-regulated electricity and water.

While you blithely speak of your owners expecting a 6% profit, most of us are struggling to maintain a positive cash flow, month-to-month.

The national savings rate is now negative. For many of us, the difference between $1.50 and $2.75 gas is critical.

The oil industry is flirting with regulation.

 

Bend over, fshagan, I've got something oiled up to give you I know from your post you're gonna love...

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.owned-pictures.com/owned-pictures/003.jpg

 

Pretty rude comment for calm, rational discusion, don't you think?

 

Good point. It is ironic that we are heading toward deregulation of public utilities in one end of the energy sector, and clamoring for regulation in another?

First question: What do you think the effect of price controls would be on gasoline? Second question: Do we want cheaper gas from a policy perspective?

I'm not sure "regulated" equals "cheap". I remember when air fares were regulated, and the resulting lack of competition resulted in much higher fares. I don't think electricity or natural gas is cheap, either, yet it is heavily regulated.

You can argue that oil isn't really competitive right now, but I think that it is; the fluctuating price tells us that. Oil may not get back to $15 a barrel, but it will go back down as alternate sources come on line, such as shale oil. Gas prices will continue to fluctuate, but the talk about "cabals" and "conspiracies" never pipes up when prices go down (and I think there can be an argument made for a conspiracy to keep us addicted to cheap oil!)

And I don't "blithely" talk about owners of companies expecting a 6% return. My livlihood is on the line to acheive just the kind of return that Exxon-Mobil had this quarter (which is, as I've said, overstated).

By the end of the year, Exxon-Mobil will probably have a net profit down at the level of net profit that Kohl's Department Store and Walmart have year after year. Anyone clamoring for cheaper clothing and shampoo?

 

i don't know much about the oil industry, but when the public (me included) sees their profit to be in the BILLION$.... it just boggles the mind. just seeing the headline: Profit.... Billions..... i doubt that most would even read the whole story. :blink:

 

Hey Squid, where do you consistently find such apt pics?!?

 

That's probably the cost before state and local taxes, wholesale/retail markup, and distribution costs.

 

Why are people whining about Exxon making money? Everyone in the industry is making money right now.

When you go to work do you not try to make the most money you can?

All people want to do anymore is just play the blame game. Exxon Mobil is having record profits, so what, so are a lot of other companies. Do they have to be bankrupt for you to be happy?

Better yet why don't you go get a 40 billion dollar loan and process your own crude oil and sell it at a loss to make people happy.

Anyone that has been in the oil industry for anytime at all knows the business comes in waves. You will do real well for 5 years then take a hard hit for a year or two, so on and so on.

 

Thanks for the civil discussion. "Blithely" is as close as I get to flaming, but I try not to.

The world saw what deregulation did to us in CA vis-a-vis our electricity. The FDA doesn't sparkle as an example of what happens when you ease back on the controls just now, either. I'm not convinced we're skipping down a path that inexorably leads to either deregulation or "privatization".

I support what Howard Dean called for: get regulation "right" by purging regulatory agencies (at the state and local level, too, not just Federal) of cronies and partisan hacks. As much as possible, populate them with non-partisan experts in the applicable fields.

I honestly don't know what the effects of price controls on gas would be, and I agree that regulation doesn't ensure cheapness. I don't want $.05/gallon gas, as Venezuela provides its people. Nor "jobs for life", as Pemex provides.

Primarily I want some transparency in the pricing and distribution of petroleum products. I want accountability. I want a system that works toward "smoothing out" pricing, and minimizing spikes as much as possible, which hurt almost everyone. The economic repercussions of the recent run-up will be felt for many months, and I don't think it would take a lot more to trigger another recession.

Then there's the "socialist"-leaning part of me. I believe that ALL people have some "claim" on the world's air, water, land and underground resources---as well as "mankind's" knowledge. What degree of claim is what's up for grabs. All of the private controllers of essential resources, no matter when or how they came to gain their control, must be viewed as temporary stewards, accountable in some degree to the mass of consumers. Their largesse can be taken from them if they abuse their stewardship. If they're willing to be at least transparent on their own, fine. If not, they invite government intervention by our chosen reps.

Then there's OPEC---

 

I always thought our problem in CA with degregulation of electricity was that we deregulated the wholesale end of the business, but not the retail end ... so the electrical suppliers couldn't easily pass on the rate increases from the wholesalers. I think it has to be done carefully, and I'm actually not a fan of deregulation of utilities like the local natural gas or electric company ... the infrastructure costs too much and creates a very real barrier to entry for competitors. I think that's close to your original point about fossil fuels being a de-facto utility, in that it is universally needed.

We agree here. But consider that where regulation has worked in the past, it was primarily to provide a guaranteed return on the investment, granting a monopoly so that the investors could make their money back. Its rarely a good choice to try and limit profit; you don't encourage investment that way. The government could run it like the countries you mention ... but we don't see efficiencies there either.

Absolutely agree ... and especially the practice of "zone pricing" among the various oil companies. This is really a throw-back or reinvention of "fair trade" rules, and is why you don't see real competition. Its more regional than it is global, yet everyone is focusing on the global companies.

"Temporary stewards" is a good term. You need strong laws protecting resources for the future, and while we agree on that, I think we might disagree on what those laws should be.

 

The story on Exxon-Mobil's "record" profit ignores that others in the same industry are not doing so well ... such as Chevron and BHP. It also dramatizes Exxon's profits as something unusual, but neglects to inform the reading public that at year end, the story will almost certainly be different, and ernings will be lower.

So if you want to be fair about "obscene" or "record" profits, take a look at these companies as well:

Apple Computer Posts Record 384% Net Profit Growth, and a net profit margin on sales that exceeds Exxon-Mobil:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/oct/11results.html

Swiss-Swedish engineering company ABB Profit grows 100% (25% more than Exxon-Mobil's) in the 3rd quarter:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/20...almost_doubles/

The Chicago Board of Trade sees Profit Soar a Record 63% in 3rd Quarter:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=100...r4c7RA&refer=us

Harleysville Group Reports Record Profits in 3rd Quarter, nearly 100%:
http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-hv...sinesslocal-hed

Samsung Boasts About 18% Net Profit on sales, Nearly Twice Exxon-Mobil's Percentage:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=422062&rl=1

Merrill Lynch Reports Record Profits in 3rd Quarter - Up 50%:
http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_8688_8564_6061

InfoSys Technologies Profit Soars 67% in 3rd Quarter:
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle...cleID=160901695

 

whoa whoa whoa! if you saw the headline here in hawaii they listed ALL the major gas companies and their reported profits. i dont care if it was exxon or whatever... oil companies in general made billions. meanwhile, the people--- the common folk--- you talk about are working hard for their money that ends up at the pump anyway, walk past a newspaper stand only to see such a headline.... :blink: oh and sooorry for not knowing the workings of oil companies.... sigh...

 

:lol:

Yeah, ok, and which one of these do we HAVE to buy from everyday? I feel about as bad for oil companies, as I do for wealthy 543rd cousin Saudi's...

I'm so glad I own a damn Prius, every damn cent I can keep out of the oil industry THE BETTER.

 

Everywhere, yet nowhere... Pretty much through various Google searches...

h34r: