Oil executives defend size, profits before Senate

Yahoo ^ | 5-21-08 | Associated Press Writer

[Red_Devil 232]

So they are going out of business?

[org.whodat]

When was that?? Was the lose after the deduction for depletion expense, did the management have their salary reduced???

[never4get]

...I still find it mind boggling that any elected official or family member should have ownership in an industry they are to regulate. As I pointed out, the stink fermenting from those in bed with he energy market in place is deafening if one would open their ears. Then you see the Pelosi’s of the owrld who are even stupider then those who work with her who are just looking out for themselves. But, while the fermenting stink from our elected officials continues to grow, many here will continue to just see this as a supply and demand problem...not an industry and government, who together are laughing all the way to the bank.

[avacado]

I was just posting some info.

[ken21]

i’ll never forget barbara boxer flying down to los angeles

and journeying out to santa barbara in an suv to announce

her run for the u.s. senate,

and to publically state on tv that there would be NO drilling

off shore.

she was a u.s. congress woman then and i dropped her a note to sarcastically

remind her of how much air fuel and gasoline she has wasted on her trip!

no reply.

[org.whodat]

Corporations do not pay taxes, they collect them. Its is called cost of product.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

That is right. The oil companies work hard to keep pols happy with the current state of our “energy policy” which is to NOT BUILD NEW REFINERIES, NOT DRILL AND PUMP MORE OF OUR OWN CRUDE, AND KEEP SUPPLY SHORT so that the word “COMPETITION” can never enter into the retail sales picture of the energy and fuels.

ExxonMobil 2007 Annual Report

Among the highlights:
- For ever $1 made in profit, the US Government gets $3 DIRECTLY from EXO.
- ExxonMobil spent nearly $22 BILLION on exploration and R&D. It's spent overseas since they're locked out from exploring here.
- EXO's refineries hit an all-time high in terms of output; of course, it's all overseas since they can't expand here.

EXO would LOVE to explore, pump, and refine here. But they can't - it's all locked up. So rather than spend billions here, they spend it elsewhere to grow the company.

And apparently, Congress isn't happy with taking 75% of the profits of EXO - they want to take more. And I guess you're just fine with that, too, aren't you?

[org.whodat]

So they are going out of business?

Good question, it seems to me they should be hanging out the "for sale sign" and firing their over paid president, anyone can run a company and save more by not paying as much to a loser corporate executive.

[gitmogrunt]

Call me, when they line up the Oil Execs, along with every congress critter, and every enviromental nut case, and the machine guns start singing.....screw ‘em ALL, cause they’re screwing us.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

If you earn $100,000 in a year, and the government takes $75,000 of that, you’d be tickled, right? Wonderful thing - you still have $25,000 left!

That’s exactly what’s happening to EXO and other “Big Oil” companies. They give 75% of their gross income back to governments.

[never4get]

...based on the alleged “inability to drill” does the net profit taken in by Exxon increase? I believe the Oil companies really then have no problem not drilling if profits continue to increase. Couple that with the motives of those who introduce “lip service” legislation for drilling they know will not take place, have themselves, families and friends with ownership interest in the oil companies to be profitable so they too make money...well, it seems there really is no desire to put more oil on the market is there? Oh yes, just supply and demand at work

[SoldierDad]

But the finding cost of oil is probably closer to $60/bbl on average today.

I sincerely doubt that. An oil industry analyst recently reported that up to 60% of the current cost of a barrel of crude is based soley on Wall Street speculation, and that the supply and demand cost is somewhere around $50.00 a barrel.

[HwyChile]

If there is one thing that I have observed about liberals is that they do not believe in economics, or reality for that matter. They live in a make believe world.

[never4get]

It amazes me you can actually think what is going on here is simply supply and demand at work...

[org.whodat]

Referring to the Kingdom’s institutional investment in the energy sector, Li Yan Lin, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy, told Arab News that China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed the long planned contract in March this year with Saudi Aramco and the US major ExxonMobil for a $3.6 billion refinery project in southern China’s Fujian province. The refinery, located in Quanzhou, will have a crude refining capacity of 240,000 barrels a day and is expected to be operational in early 2009, Lin said.

We should start by charging exxon more for Alaskan oil they plan on refining here.

[Dog Gone]

Keep in mind that the oil companies must pay the landowner or the government anywhere from 12.5% to 25% or more of the value of barrel of oil produced as a royalty payment.

That’s not a tax, but it has the same effect. Taxes are on top of that.

[Notary Sojac]

There is a back-channel deal at work here, but not the one you think.

The "real deal" behind the price of oil is Ben Bernanke flushing the US dollar down the toilet so that his banker and hedge fund buds don't get stung too badly on all those junk mortgages they bought.

[HwyChile]

“It amazes me you can actually think what is going on here is simply supply and demand at work...”

Are you suggesting there is something illegal going on here? The oil industry is not a monopoly. There would have to be major illegal collusion for the oil companies to be able to jack the price of oil up.

Crude oil (a worldwide commodity) is at an all time high. The US oil companies have no control over that. Most of it is produced in other countries by non-US companies.

I am sure it feels good to have some type of conspiracy theory going on here (you probably believe in the JFK conspiracy), but it is basic economics at work due to very bad energy policy decisions by our US government in the past.

[toddlintown]

Herb Kohl sounded like an old senile fool.

Schumer sounded like an *sswh*l*.

[HwyChile]

“...it seems there really is no desire to put more oil on the market is there? Oh yes, just supply and demand at work”

It is clear from reading your posts that you really do not understand basic economics. The statement above says it all.