Markets

Energy Roundup: Big Oil's Q3 Earnings, Shell Names Voser CEO, and More

By Michael Mattis

Updated on: November 6, 2008 / 8:26 PM EST / MoneyWatch

Oil companies post record profits in third quarter -- There's no doubt 2008 has been a gusher year for oil companies. Here's how some of the biggest players stacked up in the third quarter:

ExxonMobil -- Profit: $14,830,000,000. Last year: $9,410. Percent change: + 58.
Royal Dutch Shell -- Profit: $10,903,000,000. Last year: $6,329,000,000. Percent change: + 71.
British Petroleum -- Profit $10,029,000,000. Last year: $4,043,000,000. Percent change: + 148.
Chevron -- Profit: $7,893,000,000. Last year: $3,431,000,000. Percent change: +80.
ConocoPhillips -- Profit: $5,188,000,000: Last year: $3,673,000,000. Percent change: + 41.
Occidental Petroleum -- Profit: $2,271,000,000. Last year: $1,324,000,000. Percent change: + 71.
Marathon Oil -- Profit: $2,064,000,000. Last year: $1,021, 000,000. Percent change: +102

Shell names Voser CEO -- Longtime Royal Dutch Shell finance man Peter Voser has been named by the company as its new CEO. Voser first joined Shell in 1982 and worked in a number of financial capacities until 2002 when he joined the power and automation multinational, Asea Brown Boveri, as CFO. He returned to Shell in 2004. A Swiss citizen, Voser was born in Baden, Switzerland and has a degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich. [Source: Shell]

BP nixes Goldwind wind project -- British Petroleum Alternative Energy has pulled out of a partnership with a subsidiary of Chinese wind turbine maker, Goldwind Science & Technology. The oil giant had originally planned to jointly develop three wind farms in Inner Mongolia generating almost 50 megawatts of power. BP has not yet offered a rationale for the move. [Source: Energy Current]

Blue Square Energy looking to raise $25 million -- Have a spare 25 million clams lying around? Blue Square would like you to give them a call. Blue Square manufactures cheap, efficient solar cells based on what's called "upgraded metallurgical-grade" silicon, which the company says cost 30 percent less than traditional silicon. [Source: Earth2Tech]