EXXON Quarterly Profit 5th Highest Ever (3-MONTH PROFIT: $8,400,000,000.00)

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil company, reported Thursday the fifth highest quarterly profit for any public company in history, posting gains from higher oil prices that were likely to stoke the furor over outsized oil company earnings.

Despite the 7 percent gain in earnings to more than $8 billion in the first quarter, Exxon Mobil said its earnings came in below its record fourth-quarter because all three of its business _ exploration and production; refining; chemicals _ didn't perform as well.

The earnings report comes amid consumer outcry in the U.S. about soaring gasoline prices. The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is now $2.91 a gallon, or 68 cents higher than a year ago.

It also comes as Washington lawmakers are looking to appease consumers with various proposals to make big oil companies pay more taxes or provide consumers with some other relief.

In January, Exxon posted the highest quarterly profits of any public company in history: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the full year.

In the first quarter, net income rose to $8.4 billion, or $1.37 per share, from $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share, a year ago. Excluding a gain on the sale of an interest in China's Sinopec, the company's year-ago profit was $7.4 billion, or $1.15 per share.

But analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for a higher profit of $1.47 per share for the latest quarter, and shares fell $1.02, or 1.6 percent, to $62.08 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst for Standard & Poor's, said the latest profit figure still places Exxon fifth historically among quarterly earnings. Exxon also holds the first, second and fourth spots; Royal Dutch Shell PLC has the third spot.

The company said its average sale price for crude oil in the U.S. during the quarter was $55.99 per barrel compared to $42.70 a year ago. It sold natural gas in the U.S., on average, for $8.31 compared to $6.18 during the same period one year ago.

Earnings from exploration and production of oil and gas rose to $6.4 billion from $5 billion a year ago. Refining profits fell from $1.4 billion to $1.2 billion and profits from its chemical business fell to 949 million from $1.4 billion

Revenue grew to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion a year earlier. Higher crude oil and natural gas prices and improved marketing margins were partly offset by lower chemical margins.

Placed in perspective, Exxon's revenue for the three-month period was still greater than the annual gross domestic product of some major oil producing nations, including the United Arab Emirates ($74.67 billion) and Kuwait ($55.31 billion), according to statistics maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Exxon said it invested $4.8 billion in capital and exploration projects, a 41 percent increase from 2005.

"In the first quarter of 2006, the results of our continuing long-term investment program contributed to a 5 percent increase in production," Exxon chief executive said in a prepared statement.

Exxon also said it returned $7 billion to shareholders through dividends of $2 billion and buying back $5 billion worth of shares.

FYI... I didn't start the thread or post the article. I was just replying and putting my comment out there equating to rolling eyes on the "audacity" that a company should make a profit.

This whole discussion is so rich and fraught with demagoguing and I've slapped my forehead so many times from reading about every other post, that it hurts.

Any person that offers me a needed product or service for cost plus 9% is doing me a favor and a great service. Go buy some furniture where it's cost plus about 200%, or jewelery, or a damned filet mignon. That filet came from a tenderloin that cost a rancher the same to produce as did the arm roast, yet it has 8-10 times the markup. But, I don't see these people out to demagogue the cattle industry?

It's appears no less than amazing that $3 gas in the United States is called gouging, yet the Europeans aren't throwing a fit over $6 gasoline. Clearly something is different. They are either wiser than many in our country or more stupid. Or maybe it's because they don't have any politicians pulling knots in their tails over the price of gasoline or if they do, maybe it's because they aren't buying the BS.

I suffered through the rank stupidity and ignorance at the oil company exec hearings last year. There was no way the execs could talk sense into some of the utter fools on that committee. Lee Raymond did say several times that the industry didn't need incentives to drill or lower taxes or anything else but ACCESS to potential sources of energy. But why allow drilling when the enviro wackos and the anti-capitalists have oil companies to blame for their stonewalling?

He also said that tax incentives or subsidies had no effect on Exxon and most of their production and profit was not from the USA. He also implied that if Exxon was not welcome in the US they could move rather than be a hindrance to congress.

now I fear she'll be screaming at her Congressman to go after the people responsible for ever larger percentages of energy coming from overseas when in fact the primary culprits are on either end of the conversation /rant off

I can understand you rant, however I hope she IS calling her elected representatives to complain......

In particular I hope she is pointing out that one of the primary reasons we have to import so much of our oil from foreign terrorists is due to the efforts of the environmental wing of the demorat party. Thanks to their combined efforts over the last fifty years, this country is woefully behind in nuclear technology, uses of coal, is behind in going after domestic sources of oil. Thanks to them, the U.S. is trying to make it on 70 and 80 year old refineries.

The bigger problem here is not so much how much profits Exxon makes, but are we going to get serious in this country about doing as MUCH as we can to get energy independent.

.09 cents is peanuts - I love it when I'm right.

I wish the talking heads would cite this fact every time this thing comes up. It's simply a worldwide issue of supply and demand - big oil would have to be real stupid to gouge us as that fact would get out and all hell would break loose.

It is kind of ironic how the extra tax dollars are not getting that much press and very few talking heads are saying that much about it.

I guess we are all just little people with the government just ripping us off at will - even the Republicans and that fact is really sad.

"Why would we push their margins below what they can realize with other investments? The average return in the market is 8-10%, they can make 3% in CD's, etc. If we think 9% profit is to much for Exxon, we better be prepared for them to make different investment choices."

You hit the nail on the head. If Exxon really wanted to make money, they'd convert all their refineries to financial institutions. And with a little extra prodding from Congress, they just might.

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