HOUSTON, July 31, 2008
Exxon Strikes Record-Setting $11B Profit
Oil Giant's Revenue Rises 40 Percent In 2Q, But Fell Short Of Wall Street's Expectations
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Setting U.S. profit records has become commonplace for Irving-based Exxon Mobil. The $11.68 billion topped its own U.S. record of $11.66 billion, posted in the fourth quarter of last year. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
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The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The record-setting results were largely expected, given that crude prices in the second quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago. Natural gas prices were significantly higher too.
But investors expected even bigger profits Thursday, especially after Europe's Royal Dutch Shell reported a 33 percent jump in second-quarter earnings to $11.6 billion, which fell just shy of Exxon's own record earnings from 2007.
Exxon Mobil shares fell $2.24, or 2.6 percent, to $82.14 in morning trading.
The news on Exxon came as a slight boost in the U.S. economy in the second quarter was reported by the Commerce Department. The government tax rebates energized U.S. consumers, pushing gross domestic product, or GDP, to an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the April-to-June period. That marked an improvement over the feeble 0.9 percent growth logged in the first quarter of this year and an outright contraction in the economy during the final quarter of last year.
Setting U.S. profit records has become commonplace for Irving-based Exxon Mobil. The $11.68 billion topped its own U.S. record of $11.66 billion, posted in the fourth quarter of last year. Right behind that was the $10.9 billion it reported to start 2008.
Exxon Mobil owns the record for at least the top six most-profitable quarters for a U.S. company, as well as the largest annual profit.
The company, which produces 3 percent of the world's oil, got its biggest boost from its exploration and production arm, where earnings rose 68 percent to $10.01 billion from $5.95 billion a year ago. The main driver was record crude prices, partially offset by lower sales volumes and higher operating costs.
Once again, Exxon Mobil's results revealed a troubling trend at the heart of its business.
Production on an oil-equivalent basis fell 8 percent from a year ago - a significant blow for a company that generates more than two-thirds of its earnings from oil and gas production. That follows an opening quarter of 2008 when the company said overall production fell 5.6 percent from a year ago.
Excluding last year's loss of its Venezuelan assets, a labor strike in Nigeria and lower volumes because of production-sharing contracts, Exxon said production was down about 3 percent in the most-recent quarter.
Like its competitors, Exxon Mobil said it took a beating from lower global refining margins. Earnings from refining and marketing fell 54 percent in the quarter to $1.55 billion.
For the first six months of 2008, Exxon Mobil said it earned $22.57 billion, or $4.25 a share, from $19.54 billion, or $3.45 a share, in the first half of 2007. Revenue rose to $254.9 billion from $185.5 billion.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 227 CommentsIt pays to buy Republicans in high places. Now that McSame has received millions from Big Oil he''s become their boy too.
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Posted by jh6379 at 09:46 AM : Jul 31, 2008
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Don''t worry, the oil bubble will burst just as the tech bubble and housing bubble did. Oil has always been cyclical.
High Gas Prices are All Obama''s Fault According to the Far Right Wing-nuts:
US Senate Republicans Block Oil Speculation Bill
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--As oil prices continue to trade at economy-damaging levels, U.S. Senate Republicans Friday blocked a vote on legislation to rein in speculation in the energy markets. Instead, the minority is calling for a series of votes that would expand domestic petroleum production and new nuclear power.
In a 50-43 vote, Democrats failed to gain enough support to bring the bill forward for consideration on the Senate floor and now face another week of energy debate as Republicans threatened to hold up the measure to hammer home their "drill more, use less" policy.
The Democrats'' legislation would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to set limits on the amount of speculative trades participants who aren''t hedging delivery of the actual commodity can make, including in over-the-counter markets and other exchanges that are exempt from the same oversight as the New York Mercantile Exchange, a unit of Nymex Holdings Inc.
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 27, 2008; Page A10
Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.
Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.
***Take the money and run, my friends...***
In case you haven''t noticed, you bloody idiot, the economy is going in the tank, industry everywhere is seriously being affected, while we''re all being gouged for by someone subsidized by our taxes who ends up with record breaking profits. If you can''t figure it out, then go FOX news and spew with your kind over there.
Oh, another benefit for big oil is 30 year cheap crude oil supply from the Iraqi government. -- Cheers
Anyone who doesn''t think like you is a lib, right? No doubt you wish everyone would just keep there place. You miss the old dicatorships, don''t you?
Don''t give yourself so much credit, you really are that stupid. Nobody gives much care about what you think.
LMAO! I love it when McCain uses sarcasm.
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Posted by melchg at 10:11 AM
Well of course. You know them poor oil folks only made that much profit because Obama won''t let them drill.
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Posted by taotxzen at 10:01 AM : Jul 31, 2008
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Are you really surprised that companies would contribute to the candidate that supports their business?? Right or wrong, this is how American politics works.
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Posted by rudy654 at 10:24 AM : Jul 31, 2008
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I wonder if Obama would go after the Investment Banks for destroying our economy. Probably not, since they are his biggest contributors.
Bush did him and his own (EXXON is a Texas CO) very well in 8 years. We lost world respect, the dollar is worth half as much as when he started, his buddies are making billions in Iraq with no bid contracts, he lowered the richest folks tax and then gave them the GOV welfare banking bailouts. He undermined the constitution, lied about the war, his crew exposed a CIA undercover operative (treason), he has promoted torture, lied about global warming by redacting GOV EPA reports and testimoney!
Oh and did I mention he did more to hurt the image of Americans abroad than any President ever! His ignorance is a daily running joke in most European nations including Ireland, Scotland, Great Britian, Germany, Switzerland, .... all of Europe, Japan, China .... oh heck he is a running joke across the planet including our own country! His famous words of wisdom have created calendars, planners and many online gadgets for google homepages. He is an idiot that the entire world laughs at!
The McSame = The SHRUB!
Try not to burp and scratch your belly at the same time.
Really? SO they are hoping to be regulated, eh?
Posted by ritewingman at 10:28 AM : Jul 31, 2008
What do you expect? They''re descended from apes.
Oh, and stop dragging your knuckles.
Now seeing as your a very profitable company, can we stop giving you the billions in research aid???
Posted by rudy654 at 10:33 AM : Jul 31, 2008
Is it messing up your stream of drool?
Hey, if you need a GED certificate, I can proctor the test!
Posted by hungry1962 at 10:34 AM
Drool, drool love!
It is my hope to get your kind back to work and all.
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Posted by rafterman1 at 10:41 AM
It''s how these people think: Accept your place in life and shut up! Before we come and strong arm and put you in your place. That''s why they are so angry at Obama, the darkie dared to act like someone important.
Posted by jamesm12341
Simple - GM is losing money because they''re stupid. If they hadn''t put all their eggs in the gas guzzling SUV basket and put some into Honda clones, they wouldn''t be in such bad shape and having to lay off thousands.
Exxon on the other hand is making a great argument for windfall taxes even if in reality their profit margin isn''t all that out of line with the rest of industry. Unfortunately the poublic equates high gas prices with these "obscene profits" which may be so, but they''re also profiting on getting oil out of the ground and refining it and crude oil prices are set by world markets - not Exxon''s price gouging.
In short I can explain both sides, it doesn''t mean that liberals are being hypocritical by railing against both.
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Terroist sympathizers= US libs
Posted by rafterman1
Much as I love blaming republicans for anything this is simply supply and demand. In 1998 gas supplies were plentiful and so oil prices were low. At the same time everyone wanted SUV''s - the cars that GM made the biggest profits on. Now gas is tight, prices are high, SUV''s are the pariahs of the auto world, so things have about-faced.
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Posted by hotpaulie at 10:53 AM
He''d like to think so.
Posted by jamesm12341 at 10:55 AM
You could just cut and paste your dittohead answer. It''s all you have been saying. bright lad
LOL! No doubt!
People meet James: James is a dittohead (that means he lets Limbaugh tell him what''s what). His only claim in this blog is that libs only complain. He is in effect complaining about libs complaining.
Posted by jamesm12341
I thought that I just showed there were perfectly valid reasons to complain about both. Complaining about an injustice, whether it''s people being laid off because of corporate short-sightedness or people being ripped off because of artificially high prices, is not whining. Whining is what republicans do when they know they''re going to lose - they''re always demeaning the opponent as opposed to extolling their own guy.
Can''t think of a better answer for the same stupid question from the same bloody idiot day in and day out.
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kid you not
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See all 227 Comments