We’ve all heard the excuses on TV. Oil company executives sitting in front of congress, answering questions about why gas prices are so high, and explaining away their record profits.
“Well we’re really only making pennies on the dollar. The profits aren’t really that high.” “We don’t have any control over gasoline prices. The prices are all set by market forces”
“We need more refining capacity and we need to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
I find it totally amazing that anyone at all would believe the current gasoline prices are not 100% wholly contrived by the oil companies.
The facts are that 2006 and 2007 were the very best years ever for Exxon Mobile: in 2007, Exxon surpassed the 2006 windfall of $39.5 Billion with a record smashing profit of $40.6 Billion.
The number two US oil company, Chevron’s 2007 earnings were up 9% over 2006, with record profits of $18.7 Billion. Put that in with similar profits from Shell and ConocoPhillips, and you have over $100 Billion in profits from the oil industry in the United States in just one year. Click here for the news story from US News and World Reports.
Of course, that $100 Billion in profits really isn’t such a big deal – pennies on the dollar.
What a load of tripe! These guys must use the same accountants as the movie studios – like where you can have a blockbuster movie that does $100 million in the first weekend, but by creative bookkeeping, it doesn’t show a profit. Complete and utter bullshit.
Nope. What we really have here is a Texas oilman for president, and he’s simply paying his buddies back.
The oil companies are jacking up the prices, deliberately, simply because they can – and no one can do a god damned thing about it. They’ve got protection.
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