From the BBC:
US oil giant Exxon Mobil has posted a quarterly profit of $9.9bn (£5.55bn), the largest in US corporate history, on the back of record oil and gas prices.
Profit was up 75% and revenue rose 32% to more than $100bn.
But the results were short of analyst forecasts due to production damage from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and lower profit at its chemicals division.
In other words, if it hadn't been for the pesky hurricanes then profits from high oil prices due to the war in Iraq would have been even higher.
That's why prices shot up after Katrina - to try to make back the profits of the original estimate.
Yet the GOP continue to aid the oil moguls in their deceptions as Dennis Hastert calls for the oil companies to use their huge profits to build more refineries.
That isn't what is going to reduce the price of gas. Has anyone heard that the nation's pumps are running out of gas on a day to day basis yet? It isn't about supply and demand - its about making the maximum buck by falsely claiming restricted supply. Its profit gouging, pure and simple.
Maybe Hastert the Horrible needs reminding of this story from May:
Oil giant Exxon Mobil has been ordered to pay damages to more than 10,000 petrol station owners for overcharging on the cost of its fuel.
The ruling by a federal court judge in Miami could set the US company back more than $1.3bn.
Exxon was told it would have to pay damages to dealers who bought supplies from it between 1983 and 1994.
A spokeswoman for Exxon, the world's largest listed oil company, said it planned to appeal against the decision.
They've just found a legal way to do it on a national scale, is all.
No comments:
Post a Comment