[QUOTE=Richard J;1150490]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norrin Radd
Thank you!
Maybe, but they are vocal enough to stifle energy production
Here we go! I guess anything I say is flawed because I support the establishment. You say we need to invest in various forms of energy technology. But you disregard all the proven sources and talk about hemp.
That's right. After four years of engineering school and a lifetime of engineering work, I'm brainwashed. I want everyone to do my thinking for me. I really don't care about the truth.
You, on the other hand, have seen an Australian show about mixing laundry soap and gasoline. That makes you an expert. Everything else is just propaganda.
How are they raping us at the pump? Oil has to be searched out and then drilled for. It has to be done in mostly foreign countries, some of whom are very hostile to the US. Then it has to be transported and refined. After refining it has to be reblended according to local standards. Then it has to distributed to the consumer via a very expensive distribution system. For all that, the oil companies make about ten cents profit per gallon. I have to wonder about your definition of rape.
And please don't say "our" gluttony. I am not a glutton, never have been, and never will be.
RJ
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Gee, I dunno, maybe it has something to price collusion. Ever notice how the price of gasoline is usually close to the same price, depending on location?
One part of town all the prices are close to the same, while on another part of town, the prices are different, but all the gas stations have close to the same prices that are close to each other.
How about those record profits from two years ago?
Jan. 30, 2006
DALLAS - Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday — $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year — as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from high oil and natural-gas prices and solid demand for refined products.
Exxon’s profit for the year was also the largest annual reported net income in U.S. history, according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst for Standard & Poor’s. He said the previous high was Exxon’s $25.3 billion profit in 2004.
ConocoPhillips said last Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 51 percent to $3.68 billion, while annual income climbed 66 percent to $13.53 billion. Two days later, Chevron Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 20 percent to $4.14 billion, while annual income jumped 6 percent to $14.1 billion.
Exxon Mobil posts record 4Q profit of $10.7 billion - Earnings - MSNBC.com
Oxy reports record profit on oil prices
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 30, 2008
Record oil prices pushed Occidental Petroleum Corp. to record profit for the fourth quarter and all of 2007, the Westwood company said Tuesday.
Occidental earned $1.5 billion, or $1.74 a share, during the fourth quarter of 2007, up from $930 million, or $1.09, during the same three months in 2006. That was well above the $1.69 that had been predicted by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
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NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Murphy Oil Corp (MUR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday
its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled as oil prices soared to record levels.
UPDATE 1-Murphy Oil profits more than double on record oil | Markets | Markets News | Reuters
Shell is expected to announce earnings of £13.4billion today - the biggest-ever profit by a British company.
The oil giant is likely to report that profits have risen 12 per cent since last year, pushed up amid fears of instability in the Middle East.
Shell's 'obscene' £13.4billion profit breaks British record | the Daily Mail
The oil companies' profits, thanks to US foreign and domestic policy, have risen to sickening levels. A 51% increase in one year, if that isn't rape, then what is?
All because our government licks the boots of their corporate masters?
Even with record profits, the oil companies still get tax incentives from the government, funded by your tax dollars and mine.
It's pretty sad when we are getting raped by the oil companies and some people don't even realize it.
So, how much money does the oil industry spend lobbying Congress?
The Wall Street Journal today reports that the major oil companies successfully “beat back” attempts by Congress to have oil companies pay their fair share in taxes:
Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips beat back an attempt by senators to raise their taxes by nearly $6 billion.
The Senate version of the bill at one point included a provision that would have cost the five largest oil companies — companies with average daily production of 500,000 barrels; gross receipts of more than $1 billion dollars in 2005 and an ownership in a refinery of 15% or more — about $5 billion by changing how they account for oil inventory. House Republicans dropped the provision from the final version of the bill.
A separate Senate measure would have stripped $700 million in tax incentives for large oil companies to explore for oil and gas. That provision, too, was dropped from the compromise bill that emerged from House-Senate negotiations.
Looks like Big Oil has been putting their record profits to good use.
PoliticalMoneyLine has a new analysis on how they’ve been spending their money. In 2005, the top ten oil companies spent a whopping $33,173,092 lobbying Congress and the Bush administration. The numbers are broken down by company below:
Think Progress » Big Oil’s Lobbying Efforts Pay Off