Posted on 11/09/2005 1:39:04 PM PST by rdb3
Oil Company Execs Defend Huge Profits
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits Wednesday at a Senate hearing where they were exhorted to explain prices and assure customers they're not being gouged. There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said, opening the hearing in a packed committee room. "The oil companies owe the American people an explanation," he declared. Lee Raymond, chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp., said he recognizes that high gasoline prices "have put a strain on Americans' household budgets" but he defended his company's huge profits, saying petroleum earnings "go up and down" from year to year. |
(Excerpt) Read more at breakingnews.nypost.com ...
Fine, but let's see a reasonable fraction of those profits go into new refineries and infrastructure. It would be good for the overall economy to put some stability into the fuel price structure.
Yeah, then if they lose money and lay people off, that's bad too.
Someone get the popcorn, this might get fun!
Annoys me that my senator is one of the ones demanding a "windfall" tax.
For better or worse gouging in a time of crisis is against the law. Record profits during a period of multiple crises seems a fair reason to investigate whether there was gouging.
Really all they had to do was stand up and say "Hey, we have been smart enough to limit our supply and merge with our competition -- so you PAY !!!" (which we already know). They are good marketers in that regard. And they are getting what the market will bear -- their balance sheets PROVE IT. Wish I was a major stockholder in Exxon/Mobil!!!
I demand that Hollywood executives immediately refund money for all movies made the past 20 years.
PROFITS were too high, and unfair to us 'little' people.
Who owns the oil Co's and reaps the profits stockholders....who are the stockholders..... for the most part the American people.
Yep. Darned shame too. Perhaps these people need to move to France, where profits are not important. I don't care whether Democrat or Republican, government needs to get out of the business of selecting winners and losers.
The UK has ONE queen and the US has 535 prima-donnas we call congress.
Agree. V's wife.
Turning to Marxism in a time of crisis is a bad thing as well...
What about all of the iPod gouging going on? They are selling iPods and giving you less accessories than ever for no apparent reason other than to make obscene profits...
Obscene profits on movie popcorn and concessions should be looked into.
Profits expressed in total dollars or percentage? These guys are making just under 10% profit which is pretty reasonable.
If they can't plow profits back into the business because of the choke-hold the environmental wackos have on anti-American Democrat congressional contingent.
These companies are owned by the investors; Profits go the investors. Enough said, This is still a capitalist country is it not?
2) There is no evidence that the companies have increased their profit margins at the pump.
3) A very large amount of the 3rd quarter profits were "inventory profits"
Pardon me, but your statement seems to be a pretty ignorant summary of economics and free markets. You would like us to be like the Soviet Union where they didn't gouge, right?
Ask what profit margin newspapers have. I worked in the industry for 20 years and 40-50% profit margins are not unusual.
I worked for a publisher who once told me the "Owning a newspaper is a license to print money."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
