Exxon Mobil Makes Monster Profit

(AP)  Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company - $40.6 billion - as the world's largest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at year's end.

Exxon Mobil also set a U.S. record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, besting its own mark of $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil reported for 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, they hovered around $90 a barrel, more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

Crude prices reached an all-time trading high of $100.09 on Jan. 3 but have fallen about 10 percent since.

The record profit for the October-December period amounted to $2.13 a share versus $1.76 a share in 2006. Year-ago net income was $10.25 billion.

Also extraordinary was Exxon Mobil's revenue, which rose 30 percent in the fourth quarter to $116.6 billion from $90 billion a year ago.

For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion - the most ever for the Irving, Texas-based company - from the $377.64 billion it posted in 2006.

In a statement, Exxon Mobil Chairman Rex Tillerson said the company continued to meet the world's energy needs through its "globally diverse resource base."

"Our long-term investment program, in projects often far from major consuming nations, continued to provide resources essential to the increasingly interdependent global energy supply network," Tillerson said.

Exxon Mobil produces about 3 percent of the world's oil.

[burneb]

Most providers of any commodity charge what their market will bear. Since Americans lack the political will to throw out the bums who cravenly block better fuel standards, like those achieved by Toyota 11 years ago, apparently the American market will bear a lot.

It must be because we like seeing lard ***** waddle into the malls from their SUVs.

[jt_lancer]

MyIDonCBS: "If you''re selling something they can''t exist without, and they are having to give up entertainment or food or clothing, shelter, etc., to pay for that thing, then it is absolutely IMMORAL to charge so much."

You are making som false assumptions, in my opinion. First of all, you are making the assumption that people are entitled to buy gas at some undetermined ''reasonable price'' without giving any consideration to supply and demand, investment risk by oil companies and shareholders, etc.

Noone was looking to bail out the oil companies when gas was $1.25 a gallon (and they were losing alot of money) just a few years ago - and they shouldn''t be bailed out.

At the same time, they should not be denied profits simply because someone judges them to be ''excessive'', whatever that means.

The oil companies (and their shareholders) are the ones that assume the investment risks. They spend alot of money to bring a product to market that everyone wants. You are NOT ''entitled'' to that product. If gas prices are too high, buy a car (or a motorcycle) that gets better gas mileage.

The federal government takes more in gas taxes per gallon of gas than the oil companies make in profits. Is it immoral for the govt to do this? After all, eliminate the gas taxes, and the price of gas drops, on average, 40 to 50 cents per gallon.

[myidoncbs]

Someone asked, "Is a 10% profit ''obscene''? Is a 10% profit ''price gouging''?"

The answer depends on how much of what you are selling. If you are selling something to everyone in the country, then you don''t need to make a very high PERCENTAGE of profit on each sale because the sales add up to BIG profits. If you''re selling something they can''t exist without, and they are having to give up entertainment or food or clothing, shelter, etc., to pay for that thing, then it is absolutely IMMORAL to charge so much.

So, the answers to your questions are "Yes" and "Yes" again.

[harp1963]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

[harp1963]

And America wonders why we invaded Iraq. Greed and the love of money.

[mediapreachr]

Posted by JT_Lancer at 02:54 PM : Feb 03, 2008
You guys crack me up...How long do you think this is going to go on?Oil,coal,energy in general is a state asset.It is only a matter of time before exxon and co.gets back under gov control.

[hungry1968]

Isn''t it ironic that both this story and the one about "U.S. Economy Suffers Another Body Blow" appear?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/01/national/main3778228.shtml

[jt_lancer]

Let''s see... $40 billion profit on sales of $404 billion... If my math is right, that''s less than a 10% profit. Is a 10% profit ''obscene''? Is a 10% profit ''price gouging''?

All of you E-bay users out there who sell stuff are probably making more than a 10% profit. Are you ''price gouging''? Are you earning ''obscene'' profits? Are you ''greedy''?

Thanks to government indoctrination in public schools, people have been programmed to abhor success and wealth creation while championing poverty and sloth.

Public schools have also created a generation of economic illiterates - all the better for the populist politicians seeking to redistribute wealth.

To have $400 billion in annual sales, a company must be selling a helluva lot of product to customers who VOLUNTARILY purchase it. Meeting the needs of consumers should be lauded, not chastized.

Unlike the government, private companies cannot force anyone to pay for their goods and services (without help from the govt, of course, via tariffs, regulations, etc.)

If you are so convinced that these companies are ''price gouging'' just quit buying their products.

Besides, if you think $3 per gallon is high, consider Britain where a gallon of gas goes for $7-$8 or more. Of course, that is due to the 75% tax to pay for ''free'' health care.

Alas, nothing is ''free'', is it?

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by IRLiberal at 10:25 AM

agreed!

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by pittsnoggle2 at 10:31 AM

Pervert. Spend much time in bathroom stalls, do you?