When it comes to oil, the bells don't yet seem to be tolling. Although the price of this energy source has fallen far from last summer's high of $150 per barrel, oil companies are still enjoying the financial fruits of that period. Exxon Mobil Corporation just posted its 2008 earnings: they took in $45.2 billion in profits, although in the last quarter, revenues slipped by 33 percent. This extraordinary figure broke the company's own profit record of $40.6 billion, which was set the previous year.
Of course, Exxon Mobil doesn't derive all of its revenue from oil, as it is a diversified energy company with many different facets. And in general, profits are a very good thing. However, the idea that a company whose main line of business is focused on profiting from a product we so desperately need to move away from due to environmental, national security, and financial concerns, should really give one pause.
The next time you pull up to a filling station, think about this: do we really need to help a company earn $45.2 billion in profits when the global economy is teetering on a very precarious perch? We need to acknowledge that the time has come to move on.
As I recall from somewhere in 2008, when 'the commons' was screaming about windfall profits, the actual net profit was but 8.3% ... what markup does your elect5rician, plumber, lawns guy, or other tradesman, put on their effort? Eh?
AFAIK, the first person to blow the whistle on oil declinining was Admiral Rickover, in his book from 1953, "Education and Freedom". He gave it a hundred years, I reckon no one took any notice.
Once I owned a Lincoln Continental 1966 4-door convertible, damn, that was fun. Now, after 3 VWs, I have a 5 y.o. Toyota Echo, bought new.
So I wll move to one of the cities get an electric car to plug in each way for the 40 mile commute and more every year for the job that does not last that long.
You will call it GREEN and I will call it stu peedo
An example will clarify this assertion. If the price of copper increased, would plumbers absorb the cost increase or pass it on to customers? Since every plumber presumably suffers the price increase, logically the increase would be passed on to customers.
Assume instead that taxes were increased on all plumbers. Is there any reason to believe that this increased cost would be absorbed by plumbers instead of passed on to customers?
Oil, natural gas, timber, minerals, water are why each country will do anything to get access, and control of these Earthly assets.
No reason to be surprised.
As long as all politicans are controlled by their greed, there will be many wars fought in the name of these natural resources too!
Birth control. All forms.
Human populations are exploding World wide using religion/ ignorance as their "God" given excuse.
Intelligence, science, reasoning are, and will be the driving force for Humanity into the foreseeable future.
Good fortune, because there is no "luck, or superstition' required.
I know. I work in media relations for ExxonMobil.
Not many know that despite our record profit last year, we earned less than 10 cents on every dollar of sales. And for every dollar we earned, we paid two and a half in taxes.
It takes big money to power the world. A single project can exceed $15 billion.
Some more numbers: It costs more than $1 billion every day to run ExxonMobil’s global operations. We're spending record amounts -- $26 billion last year -- to find and develop new sources of energy. That’s over $71 million every day.
We also make more than 80 percent of our earnings from outside the US and more than three quarters from the part of the business that finds and produces oil and natural gas -- not the part that refines and sells gasoline to consumers.
Consider this – ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned energy company in the world but it produces only two percent of the world’s energy. The world’s energy challenge – finding enough energy while protecting the environment -- is big and it’s complex. Many solutions, including all sources of energy -- oil, gas, wind, solar, biofuels -- are needed.
Our CEO, has been talking about the energy challenge. Here’s a link to his most recent speech. http://exxonmobil.com/Corporate/news_speeches_20090108_RWT.aspx
Alan Jeffers, ExxonMobil blogger
F O R T Y - F I V E - B I L L I O N dollar P R O F I T !!!!
Profit! Exxon could afford to buy a hybrid automobile for every working person making under $50,000 a year without losing half of its "profits".
Is there a way that oil companies can be paid for extracting and processing the oil that belongs to all of us, while profit from consumer use goes to entities that benefit everyone?
Why do oil and gas leases mean that the lease owners own the entire product?