Profits: Who's Reaped the Most?

Given the high price you're paying at the pump, it probably comes as no surprise that the oil industry has racked up record profits. Exxon Mobile takes the trophy for highest profits in U.S. corporate history: $39.1 billion in 2006. The oil giant trumped its own 2005 record of $36.1 billion, and there seems to be no end in sight. Profits were up 9.3 percent at Exxon in 2006, even though sales rose a modest 2.2 percent.

At the gas pump, we're already feeling the burn; today's gas prices are hovering around $2.76 -- Still a far cry from Britain's average, which stands at more than twice the U.S. largely because of the U.K.'s high gas taxes.

Exxon image by PhilipsPhotos