I'm gonna go puke now.
No,no,no...they're putting the majority of their profits back into research for alternative fuels. No, really.
I've got some prime oceanfront properly in Nebraska if you're interested.
That is about $1485 a minute pure profit. Please, you good Republicans, tell why this isn't wrong.
Pammy,
What the government and the news fail to tell everyone is that they also had to pay 32 BILLION in tax on that 17BILLION profit. I feel that it is also obscene for the govenment to get windfall tax. This would bve like paying $3.20 tax on every $1.00 we make in profit. WOW
Mitch
Mitch, oops you forgot to tell how the government gives windfall profit taxes to the oil compaines to the tune of millions. Yep, we pay the oil compaines to look for new oil. And they didn't pay 32 billion on 17 billion. That doesn't make sense any way you add it.
Peoria Anti-Pundit-
Mitch is correct that they made 12 billion after paying 32 billion in taxes. Profits are what is left in the positive, after taxes are paid. The government does not give wind fall profit taxes, but they do give. The government does give tax incentives though. The oil industry does not seem to be doing as well as the Tech industry. Shall we all start screaming about their "obscene" profits? BTW, Exxon, the largest domestic oil company, represents only 3% of the world market.
Thank you for the additional update. Yes, I feel that we should all be awair of the profits and taxs that these large companies make. I am not just interested in oil but all companies. We have a small company and I look at all we have to pay and started wondering what the big boys are doing. Mostly I have found that they are also paying high tax just as we are.
Mitch
I love it when people point to "Big Oil" and say, "Ooooh! Ooooh! Bad guys!"
What that big fat profit number doesn't tell you is how much money had to be invested to make that profit.
Exxon Mobil's profits are big because Exxon Mobil is big. A lot of people (shareholders) have invested their money in it, with the hope of getting a return on that investment...and if you compare Exxon Mobil's profits to other businesses as a percentage of dollars invested, they're about middle of the pack.
When corporations pay taxes - which they do, and they should - the costs of those taxes are passed along to the consumer. So sure...let's tax the crap out of the oil companies and make them an unattractive investment. Their shareholders will take a bath, and they won't invest in expanding drilling and refining capacity, because it will have been rendered insufficiently profitable. That'll help.
The main reason oil is so expensive right now is the fact that we're competing to buy crude against China and India, countries that have added a billion people to their middle class in the last few years. They want cars and dishwashers too.
You want cheap gasoline? Don't buy so much of the damn stuff.
BTW, Exxon Mobil stock has been tanking these last few months. Those big-ass profits? Wall Street thinks they're not quite big enough.
[Sorry about the lengthy screed.]
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