Exxon Profits Soar: Why Big Oil Is Booming

[xchrom]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/exxon-profits-soar-why-big-oil-is-booming-20111028

So the Big Oil juggernaut rolls on. Yesterday Exxon Mobil announced profits of $10 billion, up 41 percent from a year ago. And this is despite a fall in oil production and a decline in prices.

There are lots of things to say about this. But clearly, whatever President Obama has done in his three years in office to "end the tyranny of oil" (as he put it in 2008) hasn't hurt Exxon Mobil. The tyranny remains a hugely profitable enterprise and is likely to remain so for years to come.

To understand why, you just have to look at how the world is organized. It's commonplace to say that we are addicted to oil, but it's almost impossible to grasp how deeply this addiction is embedded in our lives – and our political system.

One good indicator of this is energy subsidies. Subsidies are hugely important; they represent America's de facto energy policy. Recently, House Republicans have made a big deal about Solyndra, the California-based solar company that went bankrupt after getting $535 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration. Republicans want you to think that we are going broke because we're giving away tax dollars to solar-energy companies like Solyndra, which, they suggest, are run by Communist treehuggers bent on destroying America. Corporations like Exxon Mobil, on the other hand, earn $10 billion in 90 days because they are good old-fashioned capitalists reaping the rewards of hard work.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/exxon-profits-soar-why-big-oil-is-booming-20111028#ixzz1cGkGgtua

[unhappycamper]

1. k&r

[leveymg]

2. The spread between crude and retail gas prices has widened dramatically in the last 2 yrs.

All the potential savings are going into the energy corps profit margin and ultimately into the pockets of the 1 percent. Feds are unwilling to even raise a fuss about it. This is nothing but more upward transfer of wealth, as endorsed by the Obama Administration and Congress. They have us over the barrel.

[xchrom]

3. +1

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. No, it hasn't, really

the price of pretty much every crude oil except West Texas Intermediate is at $110 a barrel. WTI accounts for about 100,000 out of 5.5 million barrels of oil produced per day in the US; most of the rest of that oil trades at a much higher cost per barrel. (To say nothing of the more than 10 million barrels a day the US imports.)

[melm00se]

15. wholesale gasoline prices

crude oil prices

http://www.nyse.tv/crude-oil-price-history.htm

[Jnana]

5. Rolling Stone is not known for its insightful business reporting...

and it is easy to see why. They make the assertion that oil companies receive subsidies; however, when you drill down through the links you discover that the only direct outlays of taxpayer dollars are to corn producers for ethanol. Say what...? Ethanol subsidies are for corn farmers not oil companies.

As it turns out Most are in the form of tax benefits, such as the deduction for “intangible drilling costs” (labor, repairs, hauling, you name it) in oil exploration—a notoriously abused provision of the tax code.

So, these so-called "subsidies" are actually nothing more than deductions for businesses expenses, which are allowed by the US tax code for ALL businesses. Rolling Stone should "roll another one" and leave the business of reporting on businesses to real business publications.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exxon's profits jumped as a result of the jump in crude oil prices.

Brent crude futures, the benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, jumped 46 percent during the July-through-September period to average $112.09 a barrel.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-27/exxon-mobil-profit-tops-10-billion-on-crude-oil-price-surge.html

[DCKit]

7. Are you completely ignorting Mattt Taibbi?

He's not just smokin' hot, he's smart as hell.

[Jnana]

10. He's smokin' alright...

and it must be some pretty good stuff.

[banned from Kos]

13. Taibbi is not a credible business journalist

He is the Tiger Beat of business journalism.

[Fumesucker]

11. Welcome to DU..

I hope you enjoy your stay!

:hi:

Generally here on DU it is considered good manners to provide links to support assertions you make.

[Jnana]

16. Thank you very much.

As for the links--well, I provided the link for my assertion.

All other pertinent links (and sub-links) may be found in the OP.

Generally, it is considered good manners to read before commenting.

[xchrom]

6. i'll give this 1 kick any way. nt

[DCKit]

8. Whore.

But I can't say that any more lovingly. You whore.

[xchrom]

9. i can't say you're wrong. nt

[Hotler]

12. More subsidies please. eom.

[FarCenter]

14. ExxonMobil will help end the "tyranny of oil"

The bulk of ExxonMobil's business is outside the United States, whether measured by productio or by sales.

The earnings on the business outside the US grew faster than inside the US, as US customers are less able to compete for energy supplies.

So the US is on its way to decreasing its dependency on oil.