Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

[day_for_night]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

because gasoline prices are high when oil prices are, and oil companies make alot of money when oil prices are high because they have relatively fixed costs to produce one barrel of oil.

so...when oil is $20 a barrel, they have to only produce with projects that can produce oil at a cost to them of $5-$10 per barrel. When oil is $70/b then they can take on unconventional projects (ie. shale, coal-bed methane, etc), and still make a huge profit. plus they make unreal money on their regular projects that have low fixed costs. its win-win.

now, why are oil prices high? demand and a lack of supply. china's demand is growing rapidly, no one elses is slowing down, but the worlds supply of oil is running out, and we're left with ever increasingly expensive resources to find. looking for oil in a few thousand feet of water ain't cheap. plus you throw in political risks like iran or nigeria, and hellooooo high oil prices.

the world oil supply over time is shaped like a bell curve. some people believe we have already hit the highest point of production we ever will, and many others believe its not far off when we do. this is called peak oil (the hubert peak... www.peace.ca/oilprices.htm ) and once we've passed that point its a downhill decent. if you thought $70 oil was hard on your wallet at the pump, get ready for $120 oil within 10 years.

ps. invest in oil companies.

[dopla]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

the excuse that 'the west was allowed to develop, we can harm the environment so we can catch up' isnt valid anymore.
the clock is ticking.
china and india are ruining the planet way more than everyone else..
they must be convinced that development at any cost is costing us all a planet.

[Miroslav]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

Does anyone else find something wrong when Exxon manages to hit near record high profits (second only to their own profit 4th quarter 2005) while American consumers are paying record high prices for gas this past summer?

Actually, no...it makes a lot of sense. If you pay more for gas...Exxon gets more money from you...and they make more profit. Get it?

haha.

ok, aside from being an ass. I personally don't think Exxon is somehow "fixing" the price of gas, because I genuinely don't think Exxon has that power. If they could, why the hell would they have left it a $1.something for all those months? It's supply and demand. And it's interesting to me how most of us Americans seem to think that oil must somehow be immune to market forces which might increase price (now that's just downright un-American!!!).

[Lorn]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

I'm one of the ignorant masses previously referred to. I don't have my finger on the pulse of the global energy game the way some of you do, so please help me understand why it is a coincidence that twice now in the past 20 months EM has posted their record profits and both times it happened to be when I was paying the highest price for gas in my life.

You pay more, they make more.

[Lorn]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

ps. invest in oil companies.

I would have rather invested when oil was at $30/barrel.

[day_for_night]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

the excuse that 'the west was allowed to develop, we can harm the environment so we can catch up' isnt valid anymore.
the clock is ticking.
china and india are ruining the planet way more than everyone else..
they must be convinced that development at any cost is costing us all a planet.

uhhh...per capita...no. the US has 4% of the world's population, yet produces 25% of the world's pollution.

[Localizer]

Re: Exxon Reports $10.49 Billion Profit in Quarter

2) Its funny that americans complain about gas prices...cause they pay some of the lowest in the world. you're not allowed to bitch until you move to europe or asia...

It's because with 300 million people and America that is suburbia America, we travel farther distances to get to our destinations. Unintended Consequences I suppose. Europe and Asia have many other modes of inner-city transportation with also smaller population sizes. Furthermore, a lot of Asians ride bicycles.