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An excerpt from Rush Limbaugh dot com, paid subscriber's side:Rush speaks: But the interview with Charles Gibson on ABC, and they write this up at the ABC website: "ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Rex Tillerson defended his company's staggering $11.7 billion in profits for the second quarter, saying that the company's earnings reflected the magnitude of its business operation. 'I saw someone characterize our profits the other day in terms of $1,400 in profit per second. Well, they also need to understand we paid $4,000 a second in taxes, and we spent $15,000 a second in cost,' Tillerson told ABC News'...

Much has been made of the reported profits of oil companies; the implication is that Bib Oil is ripping us off. The left has relied on the fact that Exxon Mobil’s profits for the last quarter were the largest in corporate history. And it’s always an excuse to demonize the part of a free economy that is the bête noir of the Left at the time. The Chairman of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, gave an interview to ABC news recently and this is what he said: "I saw someone characterize our profits the other day in terms of $1,400 in...

Economics: When capitalists fail to defend the system that's done more than any other to end human misery, they make a fatal mistake. That's why it's so encouraging to see Exxon Mobil's CEO stand up for his business.On July 31, Exxon Mobil reported an $11.7 billion second-quarter profit, breaking the record for a U.S. company that it previously set. Naturally, politicians and the public, provoked by a financially ignorant media, reacted as if the company had stolen the money. Barack Obama called the earnings "outrageous." Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York, called oil industries "the most selfish group of...

With $1 billion a month in state oil profits, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has converted cash into political clout.

Maybe it was a stab by Charles Gibson to provide a national group therapy session for his 8 million viewers, but the ABC "World News" anchor aggressively questioned ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson on the August 14 broadcast for "obscene" profits and asked him to "justify" the company's success. "As we said earlier, Rex Tillerson - who is the board chair and CEO of ExxonMobil, doesn't talk often to the press," Gibson said. "His company has reported remarkable profits in the first half of this year. The high price of gas brought ExxonMobil close to $22 billion in profit - in...

Liberals call Exxon's $12 billion last quarter profit "obscene" and have threatened to seize it or impose a "windfall profit tax." But how much did the government make by taxing the gas Exxon sold? Read today's installment of "Geeks On Caffeine" to find out. Even worse, find out what the government is doing with that pile of money!! Note: the author has requested that you visit his web site and refrain from pasting the cartoon within this thread. Thank you very much!

I've seen a lot of Obama ads claiming McCain is "in the pocket of big oil," and the DNC has created an "Exxon-McCain" site. You would think they would have checked which candidate has collected more donations from Exxon employees. Yup, it's Obama. But I guess he can re-run that silly ad that brags that he takes no money from oil companies... just like every other candidate for federal office.

The Democratic National Committee may be trying to get some mileage out of recent news about oil industry contributions to Republican Sen. John McCain, launching a web site spoofing the idea of McCain sharing his presidential ticket with Exxon. But they may have found an unwelcome surprise in a just-released analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Turns out, the biggest recipient of contributions from Exxon executives and employees during this campaign is not McCain. It's Obama. The non-partisan center writes: "Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain's $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama...

This is from Carpe Diem: Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance's blog... CNN's headline: "Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit." According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter. That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales...

Just heard Mark Levin mention this point on his show tonight. The item he referred to is from Mark Perry at istockanalyst.com, who commented on CNNMoney.com's coverage of Exxon Mobil's profit report today: According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income...

When the tobacco industry was feeling the heat from scientists who showed that smoking caused cancer, it took decisive action. It engaged in a decades-long public relations campaign to undermine the medical research and discredit the scientists. The aim was not to prove tobacco harmless but to cast doubt on the science. In May this year, the multibillion-dollar oil giant Exxon-Mobil acknowledged that it had been doing something similar. It announced that it would cease funding nine groups that had fuelled a global campaign to deny climate change. Exxon's decision comes after a shareholder revolt by members of the Rockefeller...

Exxon Posts Record $32.36 Billion Tax Payment Although the way CNN reported it is "Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit." According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter. That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over...

Exxon has record profit again on soaring oil prices Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:15am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday soaring oil prices pushed its second-quarter earnings up 14 percent, again breaking its own record for the highest-ever profit by a U.S. company.

Energy: Big Oil is easy to kick around — just ask any Democrat in Congress. But China's threats to Exxon Mobil are in another league. Its bid to use Exxon Mobil as a wedge against its rival Vietnam is a case in point.What China's doing in the South China Sea these days is not trade, but blackmail to assert regional dominance. On Sunday, the South China Morning Post reported Chinese officials are threatening to exclude Exxon Mobil from doing business in China if it doesn't pull out of an exploration deal with Vietnam's state oil company, PetroVietnam. The region in...

HONG KONG - CHINA has warned Exxon Mobil Corp to pull out of an exploration deal with Vietnam, describing the project as a breach of Chinese sovereignty, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources. The article, which cited 'sources close to the US firm", said Chinese diplomats in Washington had made repeated verbal protests to Exxon Mobil executives in recent months, and warned them its future business interests on the mainland could be at risk. The protests involve a preliminary co-operation agreement between state oil firm PetroVietnam and Exxon Mobil covering exploration in the South China...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Supreme Court, in a fractured ruling, said punitive damages are allowed in a lawsuit over the 1989 Valdez oil spill but that lower courts should reduce the $2.5 billion award. Justice David Souter, in the court's majority opinion, said the punitive damages award should be brought into line with $287 million in compensatory damages awarded against Exxon in the lawsuit. "The award here should be limited to an amount equal to compensatory damages," Souter wrote. The high court otherwise split evenly 4-4 on an important maritime law question in the case but concluded that federal...

Exxon Mobil is getting out of the retail gasoline business, a market where profits have gotten tougher because of high crude oil prices. The world's largest publicly traded oil company said Thursday it will sell its 820-company owned stations and another 1,400 outlets operated by dealers to gasoline distributors across the U.S. The Irving-based company didn't disclose financial details but said the transition will take place over a "multiyear period."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon is getting out of retail gas business, according to the Dallas Morning News and Fox Business News. Exxon was not immediately available to comment on the news. The Dallas Morning News reported Exxon said it will sell the 2,220 service stations it still owns across the United States. There are 12,000 Exxon Mobil branded stations, the majority of which are already owned by families or companies outside of Exxon

As any recent television viewer can attest, the American Petroleum Institute - the main lobbying group for the oil industry - has launched a huge ad campaign designed to tell Big Oil’s side of the $4-a-gallon gasoline story. Aimed at one audience – voters – the multimedia, multimillion-dollar propaganda blitz is a necessary antidote to the misinformation and false charges we constantly hear about Big Oil from Big Media and our duly elected demagogues. We’ve all heard about the alleged sins of Big Oil, the handy media-made pejorative for the world’s largest oil and gasoline manufacturers:

Energy: Exxon Mobil's CEO says his energy company's "corporate social responsibility" is to produce more energy. While Congress wants to tax oil profits, he wants to spend them to find more oil. What a concept.While some companies like British Petroleum run endless ads touting their capitulation to the global warming religion by saying they are "beyond" petroleum, Exxon Mobil has been refreshingly unapologetic about developing the resources beneath our feet and making money doing it. Speaking to reporters after the annual meeting of Exxon stockholders Wednesday, CEO Rex Tillerson shoved political correctness aside and insisted the science on climate change...

DALLAS -- Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil-and-gas company, came out swinging Wednesday against the environmental movement, arguing the science of climate change is far from settled and that his company views it as its "corporate social responsibility" to continue to supply the world with fossil fuels. Speaking to reporters after the annual meeting of shareholders, at which much-publicized proposals by the Rockefeller family calling for new investment in renewable energy received little support, Mr. Tillerson also said he expects little delay in the $8-billion Kearl oilsands project in Alberta, after a...

Energy, Russia, U.S. Politics, Environment, China, Middle East Supply-demand out of sync: Not enough exploration, drilling and reinvestment in the oil patch The run-up in oil, commodity and food prices is not a bubble or conspiracy mounted by cartels or speculators or dictators or ethanol. Exxon and OPEC bashing in Congress, and a host of populist musings in the media and blogosphere, have it all wrong. Washington's politicians and policy makers have been parochial and woefully ignorant of economic developments around the world. That is why their prescriptions are either paranoid or populist stupidity which do not address the issues....

Exxon Mobil is the largest U.S. oil and gas company, but we account for only 2 percent of global energy production, only 3 percent of global oil production, only 6 percent of global refining capacity, and only 1 percent of global petroleum reserves. With respect to petroleum reserves, we rank 14th. Government-owned national oil companies dominate the top spots. For an American company to succeed in this competitive landscape and go head to head with huge government-backed national oil companies, it needs financial strength and scale to execute massive complex energy projects requiring enormous long-term investments. To simply maintain our...

A shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil led by the billionaire Rockefeller family has won the support of four significant British institutional investors who will call on Monday for a shakeup in the governance of the world's biggest oil company. Guardian.co.uk has learned that F&C Asset Management, Morley Fund Management, the Co-Operative Insurance Society and the West Midlands Pension Fund are throwing their weight behind a resolution demanding that ExxonMobil appoints an independent chairman to stimulate debate on the company's board.

With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That's because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of...

Exxon Mobil recently posted the biggest-ever annual profit for a U.S. company at $40.6 billion dollars. Outrageous — they gasp — consumers are obviously being gouged by Big Oil. Let’s look at the facts. First of all, just who is “Big Oil?” Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Chevron Texaco, Conoco Phillips? Wrong! It’s the government-controlled national oil companies of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Russia, Brazil, China, etc. In fact, the privately held Western oil companies that most people associate with “Big Oil” control less than 6 percent of the world’s reserves. Do these companies set the price...

In the first quarter, Exxon-Mobil earned $10.9 billion, but at the same time paid a total of $29.3 billion in taxes...

The Rockefeller family, the longest continuous shareholder in ExxonMobil, is abandoning its behind-the-scenes role at the company to press for corporate governance reforms including an independent chairman and a stronger board. Family representatives have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to issue a public rebuke to the company, which began as part of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. “After years of working behind the scenes to encourage Exxon’s management to approach its industry challenges in new ways, members of the Rockefeller family will publicly explain the concerns held by multiple generations of their family,’’ the family said in a statement....

Exxon's flat oil forecast was even more surprising because it came during a meeting when the company was trumpeting a big increase in capital expenditures -- to at least $25 billion a year going forward, up from $21 billion last year. The company also outlined a slew of big projects, 12 of which are starting up this year. These include the 600 million barrel Kizomba C development off the coast of Angola years. But how could oil production be flat? Peer into Exxon's historical numbers and you see the problem Tillerson faces. Since 2000, Exxon's oil output from two of...

Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president, yesterday won a key boost in a legal battle with ExxonMobil after a UK court cancelled an order freezing $12bn of Venezuelan oil assets. The US oil group is seeking billions in compensation from Mr Chavez's government over last year's nationalisation of a series of major energy projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco oil basin. The High Court in London yesterday lifted an injunction blocking the sale or movement of as much as $12bn in assets controlled by PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company, that had been put in place in connection with the case, ruling that Exxon...

LONDON (AFP) — A London High Court judge on Tuesday suspended a court order which froze 12 billion dollars (7.6 billion euros) of assets owned by Venezuela state oil firm PDVSA in a dispute with US energy giant ExxonMobil. Judge Paul Walker, announcing his ruling at the High Court, said he would publish a "short document" later in the day to outline his reasoning before releasing a longer document on Thursday. The public hearing was brought before the High Court at the end of February but Walker said that some of the arguments were heard in private. ExxonMobil declined to...

For much of its 47-year existence, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been a cartel in name only. It could not control oil prices because many of its members regularly breached the production quotas that were intended to regulate the market. So OPEC followed oil prices up and down, as supply and demand shifted. But now OPEC may be the real deal: a cartel that works. If so, that's bad news for the rest of the world. Look no further than last week's OPEC meeting in Vienna. Oil ministers declined to increase production despite a strong case for...

I covered this on the Information Overload portion of the Boortz show yesterday. Web Guy and Cristina tell me that there have been hundreds of email requests to put the information here in the Nuze. Happy to oblige. The issue here is the profit figures for Exxon Mobile. This oil company has been a favorite target for leftist, anti-capitalist politicians. I'm sure you remember Hillary screeching about wanting "to take those profits" so that she could spend them. Recap: In 2006 Exxon reported profits of $39.5 billion. Politicians went nuts. In 2007 those profits went to $40.6 billion. Politicians went...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. and has suspended commercial relations with the U.S.-based oil company. State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said in a statement that it "has paralyzed sales of crude to Exxon Mobil." It said the decision was made "as an act of reciprocity" for the company's "judicial-economic harassment."

Corporate profits receive a lot of media attention, but what receives considerably less attention are the corporate taxes paid on corporate profits. Do a Google search for "Exxon profits" and you'll get about 8,000 hits. Now try "Exxon taxes" and you'll get a little more than 300 hits. That's a ratio of about 33 to 1. I'm pretty sure that Exxon's tax payment in 2007 of $30 billion (that's $30,000,000,000) is a record, exceeding the $28 billion it paid last year. Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That's $27,000,000,000...

"Venezuela's state-run oil firm has denied that US oil giant Exxon Mobil had won a court order to freeze up to $12bn (£6bn) of its assets. PDVSA said that while it accepted that $300m in cash had been frozen, this was only a "transitory measure". Exxon has been fighting for monetary compensation since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seized its stake in heavy oil projects in the country last June. Arbitration between the two firms is due later this year. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez accused Exxon of "judicial terrorism" but said the court actions "don't have any direct affect over our...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. has won court orders freezing up to $12 billion in Venezuelan assets around the world as it fights for compensation for operations lost to President Hugo Chavez's nationalization drive. The largest U.S. company sought the asset freeze to guarantee repayment should it win arbitration over the Cerro Negro heavy oil project. The move is the boldest challenge yet by an international oil major against any of the governments around the world that have moved to increase their holds on natural resources as energy and commodity prices have soared. "To me it sounds like...

Exxon Pursues Freeze On Venezuela Assets By RAUL GALLEGOS and CHAD BRAY February 7, 2008 4:55 p.m. NEW YORK -- Exxon Mobil Corp. has secured court orders to freeze more than $12 billion in world-wide assets of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, as it prepares to dispute the nationalization of a multi-billion dollar oil project. The move limits Petroleos de Venezuela's room to maneuver as it fends off challenges from major Western oil companies over President Hugo Chavez's 2007 decision to nationalize four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco Basin, one of the richest oil deposits in the world. Exxon and...

Snip Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That's $27,000,000,000 per year, a number so large it's hard to comprehend. Here's one way to put Exxon's taxes into perspective. According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available: Total number of tax returns: 130 million Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes...

Exxon Mobil Posts Record Profits Friday February 1, 8:20 am ET Exxon Mobil Posts Biggest Annual and Quarterly Profits Ever by a U.S. Company HOUSTON (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 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...

Oil hit $100 a barrel last week, but scandal and corruption still stalk the industry, reports Iain Dey Doug Suttles, a senior executive at BP, had more than his fair share of bad news over Christmas. While most of the western world was eating turkey, the lawmakers in the area he runs for the British oil giant decided to throw their weight about. The authorities on Suttles' turf decided to press ahead with a big rise in tax on oil companies. On Boxing Day, they upheld a decision to withdraw exploration licences awarded to BP and other large oil producers....

Shares in PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer in China, will list in Shanghai today and are expected to double their initial public offering (IPO) price of 16.70 yuan (£1.07). That price would boost PetroChina’s total market value to more than $800 billion (£384 billion), making it the world’s biggest company by market capitalisation, overtaking Exxon Mobil’s $510 billion.

The latest swift-boating (unless there is a new one among seven unanswered calls on my cell) is the whacko claim that I received $720,000.00 from George Soros. Here is the real deal, with the order of things as well as I can remember without wasting even more time digging into papers and records.

The ABC's screening and treatment of The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. Since when has ANY documentary on the ABC received such an extensive promotion and thoroughgoing coverage? A special Tony Jones interview – recorded in London; a live studio panel discussion; endless advertising; news radio etc etc. Advertisement All this would be funny except that the effect of Swindle is serious. Deadly so. The aim of the program and its lackeys is to create doubt, any doubt, about climate change. Because even a little amount of doubt helps persuade the public...

London - An estimated two billion people worldwide have watched the Live Earth concerts on the television. The shows designed to highlight climate change were organised in Australia, Asia, Europe, South Africa and the United States. Dozens of stars such as Crowded House, Madonna and The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed in cities which included Sydney, New York and London. The global series of concerts kicked off in Sydney Australia where the show started with a traditional welcome dance by members of the Aboriginal community. Live Earth is the brainchild of former US presidential candidate Al Gore. He opened the...

Latin America: Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has expropriated $4.5 billion in assets from two U.S. oil firms. It's an ugly loss, but they will live. What's in doubt is Venezuela's future. No one knows what exactly will take over the mighty Orinoco-region investments that ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil will likely vacate as Chavez declares yet another "people's victory." But there's little chance the country will be able to match what those two companies could add to oil output and national development there. And the loser will be Venezuela.

On Tuesday, Exxon Mobil Corporation and ConocoPhillips refused to comply with deadlines imposed by Venezuela and its leftist president, Hugo Chavez. The effect of failure of either oil major to sign onto deals that would have imposed significantly tougher business conditions was effectively muted by the apparent willingness of four other oil firms to do just that, however. As such, most analysts did not think the refusal of the two companies to sign new deals would have a major impact on the ability of Venezuela to continue to move supplies from the region. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez had previously warned...

Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips are walking away from their multibillion-dollar investments in Venezuela, further evidence that the relationship between Western oil companies and oil-rich countries is more troubled than at any point since the 1970s. The rising tension is forcing companies to choose whether to accept less control of investments and smaller returns in order to remain in countries with ample natural resources. That could have big implications for Western oil companies, which are having trouble tapping new reserves, as well as for global consumers and their growing thirst for oil. The companies feel they won't get adequate value...

Venezuela takes over US oil projects By Benedict Mander in Caracas Published: June 26 2007 20:22 | Last updated: June 27 2007 01:16 Venezuela’s state-owned oil company is taking over multibillion-dollar projects owned by ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, Rafael Ramirez, the country’s energy minister, said. The action was being taken following a failure to agree the terms of a handover of operations in the oil-rich Orinoco belt, said Mr Ramirez. The oil groups refused to sign an agreement on how the Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PdVSA would take majority control of heavy crude oil projects in the Orinoco belt, which are...

  They found some stock was a potential conflict or embarrassment for the presidential hopeful. WASHINGTON - Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton liquidated the contents of their blind trust upon learning it contained investments of $5 million to $25 million that could pose conflicts of interest or prove to be embarrassing to her presidential campaign. The blind trust and a bank account valued in the same range place the Clintons' total wealth at from $10 million to $50 million.The Clintons had to disclose the contents of the blind trust in April under instructions from the Office of Government Ethics and...