PROOF YOU'RE GETTING ROBBED AT GAS PUMP

March 24, 2005 -- HERE'S all you need to know to understand that Americans are getting screwed at the gas pump.

Fact 1: The inventory of crude oil in the U.S. right now is 8 percent larger than it was this same week last year. And that's the biggest amount of crude on hand since the middle of 2002.

Fact 2: That the 8 percent increase doesn't include all the oil purchased by Washington and put into the emergency Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which now has 685 million barrels. That's up from 650 million barrels last year and 599 million in '03.

Fact 3: There is 7.5 percent more gasoline in stock right now in this country than during the same week last year. And you'd have to go back to this same week in 1999 to find more gasoline inventory — when the average price at the pump was only $1.01 a gallon.

Fact 4: Including everything made of oil, there is 4.9 percent more supply this year than when Spring began in 2004. And there's about 10 percent more of all petroleum products in stock today than when the Iraqi war began.

And, finally, Fact 5: American consumers are being conned by speculators — and a media that doesn't ask enough tough questions — into thinking there is some sort of supply problem.

Now here's my No.1 Prediction: If the greedy bottom-feeders who are causing prices to rise end up being responsible for damaging the U.S. economy there will be as much hell to pay on Wall Street as there was when the stock market bubble destroyed people's dreams.

Crude oil prices were down nearly $4 a barrel over the past two days because the goon speculators are starting to lose their grip on the market.

>> NY Post Original Article

 

Exxon reports record earnings from record oil, petrol prices

By NZPA
Friday 29th April 2005

It reported today that it had earned almost $US8 ($NZ11.11) billion in the first quarter.

But the 44% increase in earnings came as oil-equivalent production declined almost 5%, underscoring long-term concerns about whether major oil companies are investing enough to raise their output.

Lower-than-projected operational earnings disappointed investors, sending Exxon Mobil shares down $US2.38, or 4%, to $US56. The stock has increased 9% this year.

Excluding special items, profit was $US7.4 billion up from $US5.44 billion in the first quarter of 2004.

Quarterly revenue reached $US82.1 billion, up 21% from a year earlier.

Oil prices have remained at higher levels longer than most analysts expected, extending the run of record profits at Exxon Mobil and other major energy producers.

Crude oil averaged $US50.03 a barrel in the first quarter, up from $US48.27 the last three months of 2004.

It traded as high as $US58.28 this month but closed today at $US51.77, up US16c.

Exxon Mobil's profit of $US7.86 billion ($A10.11 billion) -- a record first quarter -- came after earning $US8.42 billion ($A10.83 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2004, the most ever for a US corporation.

>> Original Article at ShareChat News

 

Unocal Net Income Soars 69 Percent on Oil Prices

Posted date: 4/28/2005
Unocal Net Income Soars 69 Percent on Oil Prices

Unocal Corp. said Thursday that first-quarter earnings jumped 69 percent from last year on strong crude oil and natural gas prices, and a 5 percent increase in output.

El Segundo-based Unocal reported net income of $454 million ($1.66 per diluted share) for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $269 million ($1) for the like period a year earlier. Revenue rose to $2.2 billion from $1.9 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected the company to post earnings of $1.37 per share on sales of $1.2 billion in the first quarter.

Excluding a $22 million gain from the sale of Unocal's interest in Hindustan Oil Exploration, which was offset partially by $11 million in provisions for environmental and litigation matters, Unocal earned $441 million ($1.62 per diluted share) in the latest quarter, versus $239 million (89 cents) for the like period a year earlier.

Unocal said first-quarter results reflected higher worldwide crude oil and natural gas prices, international production and natural gas storage margins, and lower exploration and interest expense. These positive factors were offset partially by lower North America natural gas production and higher administrative and general expense.

Unocal said oil and gas production in the first quarter averaged 429,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, an increase from the 409,000 BOE per day produced a year ago. The company cited higher liquids and natural gas production in Asia. Unocal said it currently expects worldwide average production for 2005 to exceed 430,000 BOE per day, up from a previous estimate of 425,000 BOE per day.

>> Original Article Here