Filed under: Etc., Green Daily
Exxon's $14.83 billion sets new quarterly profit record
Another quarter passes, another record profit is set by Exxon Mobil. It's a bit of a broken record by now... literally. If you have a weak stomach, perhaps you should quit reading here. For the rest of us, here are the gory details: Total net profit comes in at a staggering $14.83 billion, besting its previous record (which was just set last quarter) of 11.68 billion. That income equals $1,865.69 per second, in case you cared. Total revenue taken in was $137.7 billion, which equates to a lot of gas, though it produced 8 percent less oil that it had the previous quarter.
Perennial number-two oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, also did rather well for itself last quarter, raking in $8.45 billion in profits. British Petroleum, for its part, managed to make some $10.5 billion over the same period of time. These record profits have managed to catch some major attention, including that of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who suggested that the oil giants perhaps share the wealth a bit. Yeah, that sounds likely.
[Source: CNN Money]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nick 9:21PM (10/31/2008)
My god, these companies are starving, they need a tax break!
Reply
stevefazek 10:08PM (10/31/2008)
And just think any oil taken from federal lands they pretty much get our oil for free.
Reply
texmln 10:39PM (10/31/2008)
Quit whining. Exxon already 'share's the wealth' by offering shares in the company to the public. If you want a piece of the action, feel free to buy as many shares as you can afford. They're actually down substantially lately so you can grab them for cheap right now.
Exxon paid $30 BILLION dollars in income taxes last year and they'll pay more this year. Their effective tax rate was 42%. Why aren't you outraged about that? Talk about theft.
Get your priorities straight and be glad you don't live in a country with a nationalized oil company - like Venezuela - where they can't even keep the power on and they're running out of FOOD. You're LUCKY Exxon is making so much money. Exxon provides more benefit to you than you can possibly imagine.
Reply
Noz 5:08AM (11/01/2008)
Are you for real?? No wonder this country is fked and idiots like you think people in the US aren't starving.
Poor old Exxon....perhaps it can give enough money to cover the 46 million Americans who don't have health care.
It's people like you who put companies before people...and that's why we're so fked. You measure wealth by company wealth..not by individual wealth. Go ahead..buy their stock if you actually think you're going to get wealthy on that. You're so important as a stock holder that you'll be the last in line to get your money if a company goes belly-up..so yeah ...buy their stock.
Stupidity is officially the language of the USA.
AMcA 3:20PM (11/01/2008)
Finally, someone talks sense on this blog.
Yes, Exxon makes a lot of money. And that money goes to support its shareholders. Retired people, people with pensions, people getting ready to retire. In the end, all that money goes to actual people.
If you think it is a bad thing for corporations to be making dirty nasty profits, you also have to be ready to think it's a good thing for your grandmother to live on pet food.
tankd0g 10:29PM (11/01/2008)
AMCA you're living in a frigging dream world if you think exxons profits go to it's share holders. The money that doesn't go to CEOs goes into making more money for the CEOs.
Barry 10:42PM (10/31/2008)
Exxon pays 41% in federal taxes before profits. Therefore, they paid about 10 billion in federal taxes on earnings of 25 billion leaving 15 billion in net profit. This does not include federal taxes levied per gallon of gasoline. Basically, the federal government makes more per gallon of gas than Exxon makes in net profit per gallon of gas.
Exxon put a gallon of gas in your neighborhood for about $2.25 per gallon currently. What do you pay for milk??????
This oil/gas was originally miles underground in hostile foreign lands. The milk...you know.
Reply
stevefazek 12:58PM (11/01/2008)
Its called economy of scale...............
tankd0g 10:30PM (11/01/2008)
Oh I'm sorry, does Exxon have to grow oil now? You mean it's not just sitting there in the ground waiting to be marked up and sold to me? Sorry, my mistake.
gorr 11:02PM (10/31/2008)
I knew there were many high gas price and usage proponents here in this site.
Reply
Max 11:15PM (10/31/2008)
That's right, they pay a lot of taxes before any deductions.
Besides...the country's economy is faltering, millions are worried about their savings and investments, the U.S. government with $10 trillion in debt is basically bankrupt.
We know taxes suck and we wish every one and every company didn't have to pay them. But the reality is...with the current conditions, why does specifically an oil company deserve a break?
In other words, why does Exxon & Co deserve a financial advantage when thousands of others don't? I can name a few companies on my block that would like (and need) a tax break too.
Reply
Luke 12:56AM (11/01/2008)
One more thing: If Jeremy were a little more logical, he would be against comanies like Toyota who have much larger profit margins than either Exxon or Toyota. He would then tax companies based upon their profit margins, and punish them for their success. As it is, Exxon is owned mostly through individual investors, like the lowly teachers' 401k's, yet Jeremy wants to punish the company. If the lowly teacher invested her 401k money in software companies that rake in 30% profit margin per year, Jeremy won't say a thing. Ironic.
Reply
tankd0g 10:30PM (11/01/2008)
"One more thing: If Jeremy were a little more logical, he would be against comanies like Toyota who have much larger profit margins than either Exxon or Toyota."
??????????????????????
Chris M 2:02AM (11/01/2008)
I don't begrudge a company making a profit, or that they are setting a record in profits.
What galls me is that they did it by jacking up oil and gas prices by a huge margin, driving the rest of the economy perilously close to bankruptcy. They didn't give a damn about the damage to rest of the economy, or the financial distress of their fellow countrymen. Their only concern is their own rapidly accumulating wealth.
Reply
Michael 7:54AM (11/02/2008)
Uh... yeah.
You might want to get that stupidity thing looked at.
Michael 7:56AM (11/02/2008)
Global oil markets set the price of oil. Not Exxon.
Chris M 9:49PM (11/02/2008)
Michael, tell me where you're at, and maybe I'll come by and look at it.
Yes, "global markets" set prices, but Exxon is part of that global market. Exxon isn't the only one pumping oil out of the ground, but they do have oil wells that they are pumping from. And of course, Exxon decides how much markup is applied to the fuels they sell.
Think, man, there is a reason why Exxon keeps on making record profits while the rest of the economy tanks! Why is Exxon setting a new profit record in the face of declining fuel sales? Can you spell "Ripoff"?
Luke 8:08AM (11/03/2008)
"And of course, Exxon decides how much markup is applied to the fuels they sell."
No, they don't "decide how much markup is applied." The market decides whether they sell at a profit or a loss. Just like when you buy or sell your own stocks on the market, Exxon has no control over the price of oil.
This situation is evident, for example, with tar sands. With prices this low it may soon become financially impossible to justify production because it is so expensive.
Like oil companies, corn farmers have benefited from the law of supply and demand. The price of corn has risen dramatically. Farmers aren't "jacking up" the price of corn. They are also at the mercy in the market. In past years, they often sold at a loss.
This is simple economics.
Nick 2:07AM (11/01/2008)
Debt of US gov in 2000:
approx $5,000,000,000,000
Debt of US gov in 2008:
approx $ 10,000,000,000,000
Now JohnMcCain wants to keep going in that direction, and as an experienced politician, wants to give every individual and business a tax break, while also investing into his campaign contributor ExxonMobil (to reduce dependence on foreign oil by 2%), and pouring billions into other programs...
Money grows on tress....right...let's give ExxonMobil another tax break instead of the millions of struggling American families.
Reply
Sir Vix 3:56AM (11/01/2008)
#7 Luke
HAHAHHA i agree. well put
Reply