Not only did it record its biggest profit in one of the industry’s most turbulent years. That could have been a matter of a few well-placed bets. But from all accounts, the company is very well managed all down the line. From today’s NYTimes:
More than any other oil company, managers at Exxon emphasize a strict attention to containing costs, and are disciplined about their investments. As a result, the company manages to extract more dollars than its rivals out of each barrel that it pumps or refines.
Maybe we should hire them to oversee the stimulus package — and the bank bailout, for that matter.
13 comments
Or ask them to fund part of it…it is tax season, you know
Would they like to buy a newspaper?
@ christopher…you mean more than the 49% they already pay? Mr. Allison it appears you have the privilege of having the new POTUS as a commenter. Hi Barry!
“Or ask them to fund part of it…it is tax season, you know”
Yes, let’s punish them for being one of the few successful companies that has weathered the economic storm and will continue to do so.
Some brilliant logic you’ve got working there, Christopher. Punish the successful and bail out the idiots.
Making a lot of money just means you took a lot of money from a lot of other people. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say the American peons are forced to pay the prices at the pumps.
Hey, I don’t like the gluttons of gas but I’d rather spend it with Exxon rather than that DickTater Chavez in Argentina “Citgo”.
Every person that is on earth is under some kind of greedy government and employer. Why should we be any different? Extract as much as you can, as fast as you can, from as many people as you can.
@ matt/gravypan, I guess my sarcasm was too subtle
Does this mean they may finally pay the full amount awarded after the Valdez disaster? No thought not.
“Making a lot of money just means you took a lot of money from a lot of other people.”
If anyone wonders what the hell is wrong with America, that’s it in one sentence.
bbb:
Have you checked the price of petrol in Great Britain lately? Gas in the U.S. is cheaper than almost everywhere but Saudi Arabia (and I don’t suppose you would like to live there, would you?).
I don’t feel like I’m “forced to pay” at all. In fact, I really think I’m getting quite a deal, considering that Exxon paid to explore for oil, paid the enormous capital costs of extracting it out of the ground (or from the sea bed more than a mile under water), paid for the factories to refine it, paid the pipeline cost of pumping it to distribution points, and provided the franchise rights for gas station owners to allow me to pump my gas in a generally clean, safe, and well-lighted place.
Quite a deal, considering that I don’t know how else I would get it.
To put the Exxon/Mobil profit in perspective, would someone please tell me how many oil companies there were 10 years ago?
@Studius
Right dictator, right oil company, wrong country. But Argentina IS easier to spell.
Trey Garrison, I love you. Let’s draw these people a diagram: I have Exxon stock. I also have (heart-attack) AIG and Fannie Mae. Like a dunce I bought Citi when it was a bargain at $10 — now it’s about, what, $3? So when you look at my portfolio, some of it is not just in the toilet, it’s in the Trinity. Then you look at Exxon holding strong and you think, gosh, I will not kill myself today.