Exxon Mobil Reports Huge 1st Q Profits

[CarpeyBiggs]

:eek2:

Link (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyqhbREqQWI0VE1kowfNjvxDlcJwD90D2J0G0)

Exxon Mobil 1Q profit up 17 pct, Marathon edges up 2 percent

[i]By JOHN PORRETTO

[Deathcricket]

I have this interesting theory which I would like disputed please.

Gas prices aren't going up....

The value of our dollar is going down....

and it buys less gasoline, so it seems like it's more expensive. I've been trying to find out why gold is so friggin high also. Then I've been doing price comparisons on how much oil that using gold would buy. If you used a pound of gold and checked to see how much oil it would buy, then calibrated that price and converted it directly into oil. It seems like oil has actually gone down.

I'm at work, so I don't have my links on where I've been getting my numbers. But wondering if this is even a valid way to quantify what the problem truly is. Is it a valid comparison to say that 5 years ago gold was at $500/lb and oil was at $50/barrel and now gold is at $1000/lb abd oil is $100/barrel that oil has not really gone up? Again using figurative numbers, but those should be easy to verify. I'm just wondering if my thought process is correct? We can't really be blaming "the world" for getting more expensive yeah?

:ne_nau:

[JP]

Gas prices aren't going up....

The value of our dollar is going down....
That definitely plays a big role in it. If the dollar gets stronger, that in itself will relieve some of the cost at the pump. Some believe they are trying to phase out our currency like they did in Europe to come out with one standard of money like the Euro. So, our money would be worth the same as say the Canadian and Mexican currency. Obviously there is a lot involved with all of it, standards to meet and such, but it has proven itself in Europe.

[sparker1]

At $1000/lb, I'll take all the gold you can supply. Most markets sell it by the ounce. :nod:

[UtahAdventureGuide]

if there was a direct correlation between the price per barrel and the price at the pump then the big oil groups wouldn't be posting record profits every quarter.

yes, the value of the dollar does drive up the cost per barrel but it will not add to the profits of big oil.

personally i think the oil industry is taking advantage of the situation. all major news outlets reported possible $4.00 / gal. gas prices this summer, so what's stopping big oil from making that happen?

all i know is it costed me $75.00 to fill my tank on Wednesday and costs me almost $20.00 a day to drive to work.

Chris

[UtahAdventureGuide]

Hey Dan, Good to hear from you... Hows Alaska treating you?

I've got a good friend up there named Jeff Schively. If you're interested in exploring Alaska he's your guy, I haven't seen him in about 10 years but we started big-wall climbing together in Zion in the early 90's.

his email address is at the bottom of this page:
http://www.sws.org/regional/alaska/alaska.html

[Rev. Coyote]

personally i think the oil industry is taking advantage of the situation.

Of course. The scary thing is the fuel situation imperils the other primary industry in this country. Already hitting us HARD in the forest products sector. So, when big oil crushes the economy then what?

I hate short-sighted piss-poor corporate citizenship. Big oil is like the neighborhood child molester in corporate America.

[trackrunner]

Why, why, why did I sell my shares of Exxon Mobil? With the price gain and the dividends I could rolling around in my money like Scrooge McDuck laughing at all you little people. Now I'm one of you little people because I sold out too early.

http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/barks/images/bin-dive.jpg

Demand for gas is very inelastic in this country. For you non-economics nerdy majors it more or less means consumers will take it up the rear and pay the high price because they can't live without gas. Whenever this happens though consumers eventually find alternative goods/services and new entrepreneur producers have economic incentive to come out with alternative products. High prices cannot be sustained forever; eventually consumers will switch to mass transit, more full efficient cars, alternative fuel, etc. What price will break the consumers back, $4, $5, $6, $10, $15/gal, or more?

Looks like I might be switching to veggie oil sooner than later.

[madsjim]

Profit equals = (Price X Quantity) - Costs

Pretty basic equation, but as price goes up and demand goes up, cost remains relatively equal. Profit naturally goes up. The sheer volume of units sold ensures that their profit would go up.

Lots of finger pointing at Petroleum companies, but never a good explanation of what they are doing purposefully to screw everyone? :ne_nau: How do they take advantage? Future contracts drive up the price, what is the Oil Biz going to do?....offer a lower price out of the kindness of their hearts?

As trackrunner said, eventually demand won't accept the inelasticity and alternative options will be cheaper. Then all you oil haters can laugh at Exxon. :2thumbs:

[Jaxx]

Bastards...

I think it was the CEO of Exxon that said that if the government stopped putting so much oil into the reserves then the price wouldn't be so high. I think I read that when Bush was put into office he upped the amount going into the reserves by 10 times. Of course I am too lazy to find a link to back up my rhetoric so take it with a grain...

[bruce from bryce]

Dam it, I wish profits resulted in higher stock prices. I've got a couple thousand shares yet the price is down for the year. Explain that to me? Maybe too many people going 'green' in their stock picks.

George Bush Senior released a bunch of oil at the beginning of Iraq 1 and despite the war the price actually dropped. Your assumption about the deposits this President continues to make probably hold a whole lot of truth.

[sparker1]

We need to drill into our own reserves, including ANWR. Bush has been trying to get that one approved since day one. Recently, he reiterated that position. One of the Democrat congressmen, who have been blocking that plan, says it is now "too little, too late" because it would take 8 years to begin feeling the impact of ANWR drilling. I'm pretty sure that we will still need it 8 years from now.

[JP]

We need to drill into our own reserves, including ANWR.of ANWR drilling.
:nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

[Wasatch Rebel]

The thing is, I can see making a profit. What I can't see is intentionally keeping their profit margin that high, when it's something every American depends on. Some will say that a profit margin that high is what a lot of products are receiving. True, but most companies are selling optional items. Gas isn't optional, realistically. The oil companies could increase good will by dropping their profit margin significantly.

Here are some of my other proposed solutions:

1) Allow more drilling for oil in our coastal areas, but not in pristine areas.
2) Allow drilling in ANWR---but only in the 5% of the area that is proposed, and mandate as little environmental damage as possible with strict rules.
3) Allow more refineries, and along with that, new companies to be involved both in refining of oil and selling of gas. The monopolizing of oil production is making competition null and void.
4) Make speculating on the price of oil a criminal offense.
5) Stop driving as much.
6) Write to Congress to increase grants, tax breaks, etc., for legitimate research and inventions that will lead to cheaper energy sources that actually work.

[Rev. Coyote]

Some ideas:

1) Amp up renewables. Biomass is already making really great gains. Diversify the whole energy portfolio.
2) Better conservation on everyone's part. Don't sacrifice the wilderness just because every thumb-sucking entitlement mentality baby-boomer asshole wants to live in a 7,000 s.f. house. Remember, a giant percentage of our energy is going into the heating and a/c of unused indoor spaces. And that's plain wrong.
3) More availability of little diesel cars. My Mom's diesel VW wagon gets 45 mpg. That trumps gasoline hybrids even.

[MY T PIMP]

My solution, make the oil monopoly compete against itself. Rally Americans to buy local fuel only, this would have to make other companies drop their prices. The fact is OPEC is an illegal operation, if good old Teddy Roosevelt was still around he would put an unrivaled assault on this monopoly. Not to mention punch the idiots who decided to restrict constructing new refineries in the face. :bash:

I've said before concerning the move to a more eco-friendly mode of energy is very important, but what is just as important it is something that needs to be eased into. Forcing Americans into it too quickly would cause drastic economic circumstances. Explanation; who can afford to have their late model vehicle rendered worthless? Can we not have cheap oil and still promote eco-friendly energy?:ne_nau:

[trackrunner]

The fact is OPEC is an illegal operation, if good old Teddy Roosevelt was still around he would put an unrivaled assault on this monopoly.

I don't think I understand. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a large group of countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC is not companies it's countries. US laws don't extend to how other countries govern their natural resources.

Now if you are talking about the largest companies I see your point: ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron-Texaco. Some have argued that the high prices are from allowing companies to merge in this industry: example Exxon merged with Mobil, Chevron with Texaco, etc. It uses to be there were 11 major oil companies, now there are 4 after all the merger and consolidations. Argument is we didn

[Wasatch Rebel]

Starting a new oil company is virtually impossible (capital, infrastructure, and the major companies will strive to drive new companies out of business).
I think that's why the point about Teddy Roosevelt was made. At least partially. Monopolies are never good for consumers. Especially when the product being offered is a need rather than a want. I'm sure Bill Gates could start an oil company if he desired to do so. So why not a large pool of wealthy individuals combining into a new oil company?

[trackrunner]

Starting a new oil company is virtually impossible (capital, infrastructure, and the major companies will strive to drive new companies out of business).
I think that's why the point about Teddy Roosevelt was made. At least partially. Monopolies are never good for consumers. Especially when the product being offered is a need rather than a want. I'm sure Bill Gates could start an oil company if he desired to do so. So why not a large pool of wealthy individuals combining into a new oil company?
Actualy Teddy Rossevelt and OPEC were in the same sentence hence the confussion on my part. :ne_nau: If we are talking about ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron-Texaco, Royal Dutch Shell, then I understand the Roosevelt comment. Though technically I could understand an argument being made about OPEC being a monopoly, the countries collude to exploit a higher world price of oil.

Just because I'm a nerd and majored in economics.
It's not a monopoly. Mono = one, oli = few. The oil industry is considered an oligapoly, and one where firms have strong market power. The firms collude together to act like a monopolist to exploit their market power.

Edit:
I guess I should add that I agree with My T Pimp on the buy local. Though I think it will be hard, if everyone agreed to buy from the local gas companies, Sinclair, Tesoro, Flying J, Maverik, etc, I belive these smaller gas companies could then compete on a larger scale with the big four and price may fall.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Just because I'm a nerd and majored in economics.
It's not a monopoly. Mono = one, oli = few. The oil industry is considered an oligapoly, and one where firms have strong market power. The firms collude together to act like a monopolist to exploit their market power.



Okay, technically not a monopoly, but in an industry where no newcomers appear to be allowed, it seems to have the same outcome as a monopoly.

[trackrunner]

Thought this pic should be posted here
http://www.forumammo.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10275/AMERICA.jpg