Exxon Mobil posts record $45.2 billion profit

Go-*******-figure.

Isn't it the point of being in business, to make money?

TBone said:

Isn't it the point of being in business, to make money?

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Of course, but at what point is it too monopolized and becomes gouging and not just sales?

Yay for them!

TBone said:

Isn't it the point of being in business, to make money?

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But when you supply a good or service that is necessary to the quality of life and start to take advantage of that by hiking prices, you start to violate ethics. The older I get the more I realize that things like this need to be regulated.

Exactly. Profits are not a bad thing. And what revenue was this profit made on? Was this profit eeked out at 2.5% on a huge revenue, or did they make 40% on a smaller revenue? I don't see 2008 revenue in the article.

Did you see the excellent piece on 60 Minutes recently about oil speculation. Their point was it was a bubble just like all the other ones. They tracked the flow of cash into and out of the oil speculation market that coincided with the spike in prices and the drop. During the peak, they reported that for every 1 barrel of oil being actually delivered, there were 27 barrels of oil being traded.

Their pretty strong conclusion was that a speculative bubble caused the runup. I find it easy to believe given the same thing in internet and housing.

Sadly i'm not an expert in this so I'm just left to pass on what I remember.

Shell posted a loss for the first time in 10 years ...

I find it funny what some of us consider gouging here in the US is considered cheap in Europe.

Logan5 said:

I find it funny what some of us consider gouging here in the US is considered cheap in Europe.

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They don't use gas in Europe. They use Petrol. Duh.
That's why it's more expensive.

J-Dog said:

They don't use gas in Europe. They use Petrol. Duh.
That's why it's more expensive.

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I heard it's flavour is better :lol:

TBone said:

Isn't it the point of being in business, to make money?

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Gee, I wonder how they managed to do that...in the midst of the worst recession ever.

SDRider said:

Gee, I wonder how they managed to do that...in the midst of the worst recession ever.

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I think the Carter years were worse.

SDRider said:

Gee, I wonder how they managed to do that...in the midst of the worst recession ever.

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Read the article. It explains how. Right there in the first couple paragraphs. OH.....wait a minute....you didnt read the article did you? Shame!

Nudist said:

I heard it's flavour is better :lol:

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Yep. Gotta pay extra for the taste.

I haven't bought any gas from Exxon/Mobil since the Valdez incident and their reaction to it, and I never will. That's unfortunately about the only thing I can do.

No see that $45,200,000,000.00 just sounds like allot of money but it's on par with the same profit percentage that most business have.

"Revenue in the most-recent quarter fell 27 percent to $84.7 billion".

So we know third quarter revenue was $116B.
Let's assume for fun that 1st and 2nd quarter revenue was $100B (each).

Total assumed rev = $403B. Total profit = $45.2B. Total profit percentage on revenue = 11.2%. Why is everybody getting all upset over Exxon making (assumed) 11.2% profit?

Here's a fact, before everyone screams price gouging (Oh, too late for that)

From CNN:
The company reported total revenue in 2008 of over $477 billion, giving the company a profit margin of about 9%. That's in line with other manufacturing industries, and far below the margins seen in other sectors, such as tech.

and:
But Exxon's quarterly profit fell over 33%, as crude prices dropped precipitously in the last quarter as recession spread through the globe.
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My company earned about 9% last year, it's just that 9% is a lot less when your company is small like ours.

Nexus242 said:

No see that $45,200,000,000.00 just sounds like allot of money but it's on par with the same profit percentage that most business have.

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In fact, its probably less than many other companies.