NotSoSmart wrote:
Seems your opinions are a bit ignorant. Remain so if you wish and endorse the Clinton's policies.
I already knew it was a Clinton policy, ... and a good one at that. I've been paying attention to what's going on around me - probably longer than you've been alive. So, yeah, I endorse it. I'm not so stupid that I have to reject everything the stain did while he was in office just because it was him doing it.
As your own post states:
At the time, the government was seeking to increase domestic oil and gas production when prices were comparatively low. This was the right thing to do.
Shell Oil is benefiting from those Clinton era royalty reductions for the field that is being produced off it's MARS platform. This platform was deployed at a cost of $1.5 Billion dollars .. there is part of the risk they assumed.
It is located in 2900 feet of water in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico .. another risk they assumed .. with the following results after Katrina battered it wifor 4 hours with 175 MPH winds:
Before:
After:
It's been down since August and is not expected back up until the 2nd half of this year .. lost production for over a year from a platform which can produce 15% of the total US Gulf of Mexico output. Platform and refinery repairs from Katrina are estimated at $350 - $400 million dollars.
The risks were undertaken, in part, because of the incentives offered ... but now that the "bad old oil companies" are making a 9% - 10% profit on their risks, let us, by all means, change the rules.
Now, go to your room. After you've been quiet for 30 minutes you can go outside and play.
Nice pictures. Here's some more data.
Shell's full-year earnings rose 37 percent to $25.3 billion while sales rose 12 percent to $379.0 billion. The earnings were the largest ever for a British or Dutch company, but are likely to be passed by Britain's BP PLC next week.
Quarter
Net ***profit*** was $4.37 billion, down from $4.57 billion, while sales fell to $92.8 billion from $95.1 billion.(Due to Katrina Rita)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_netherlands_shell
Paying attention doesn't equate to understanding. ;-)