The REAL Reson for High Gas Prices

[burtandnancy]

Saw on the news that they just paid a severance bonus to the ex - CEO of Exxon; $400,000,000. That four hundred million on top of his $51,000,000 annual salary. You can see how tough things are, so we all need to buy all the EXXON gas we can so their check doesn't bounce...

[LUVNLIFE]

If I used Exxon gas I would stop :mad: I prob do use it under another brand name though :rolleyes:

[beyondhelpin]

An old friend of mine who has a small oil company has been knocking down pretty well lately. He put a heliport on top of his boat dock last year. Just bought a 10 passenger plane (dont know what kind) plus the chopper. Bought his kids new houses in Cali and Missouri where they go to college. Havent seen him in about a year. Dont know if we can hang with them anymore as we probally qualify as trailer trash now! :)

[MagicMtnDan]

Edit: You were right B&N, absolutely right about the obscene bonus ($400M). In the 13 years he was CEO, he made a total of about $1 BILLION! My apologies for saying you had your facts wrong. At the time, I didn't find that info when I was Googling.
Wow, do you ever have your facts wrong! Plus, that's not the reason for high gas prices - that's the result of high gas prices and Exxon's profitability.
Here's the story:
Oil giant's record-breaking 2004 revenues and profit bring a big raise for its boss, Lee Raymond.
Buoyed by high oil prices, Exxon Mobil had a record-breaking year in 2004, and Chairman and Chief Executive Lee R. Raymond shared in the company's success with a $38 million compensation package, the largest U.S. oil company said Wednesday.
Exxon Mobil (XOM, news, msgs) said that Raymond, 66, was paid $7.5 million in salary and bonus plus restricted stock worth $28 million and nearly $2.6 million more in other compensation and incentives.
That was an increase from Raymond's 2003 package worth about $27.9 million, including $6.8 million in salary and bonus and $17.9 million in restricted stock.

[shueman]

Fockers.... :220v: One would assume the Board of Directors approved the compensation.... :rolleyes:

[burtandnancy]

Hey MMDan. Do you still think I had my facts wrong? Its looking more like the $400,000,000 severance bonus was fact. The only effect the publicity may bring about is the tax benefits on top of the excessive profits the oil companies are making. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard capitalist and believe everyone is entitled to a profit. But when we see major corporations going under, taking people and their pensions with them, and the exec's who are responsable taking exorbitant bonus's, its a little too much to stand for, even though I am heavily invested in oil company stocks and bonds...

[Hardly Satisfied]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Daytona100]

Wonder if there hireing? I could use an extra 400.000.000. :mad:

[Riomouse911]

Execs should make no more than 10x the average workers salary for the company, and those beneath him in rank would abviously make less... Looking at the almost 45 million total salary package that the Exxon dude gets makes me ill, and truly makes me understand why it cost me over 90 bucks to put 1/4 tank of diesel (10 G) in the super duty and fill 3 gas cans at the pump. Screw them and their maids. :mad:

[MagicMtnDan]

Hey MMDan. Do you still think I had my facts wrong? Its looking more like the $400,000,000 severance bonus was fact. The only effect the publicity may bring about is the tax benefits on top of the excessive profits the oil companies are making. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard capitalist and believe everyone is entitled to a profit. But when we see major corporations going under, taking people and their pensions with them, and the exec's who are responsable taking exorbitant bonus's, its a little too much to stand for, even though I am heavily invested in oil company stocks and bonds...
You were right B&N, absolutely right about the obscene bonus ($400M). In the 13 years he was CEO, he made a total of about $1 BILLION! My apologies for saying you had your facts wrong. At the time, I didn't find that info when I was Googling.

[GHT]

Saw on the news that they just paid a severance bonus to the ex - CEO of Exxon; $400,000,000. That four hundred million on top of his $51,000,000 annual salary. You can see how tough things are, so we all need to buy all the EXXON gas we can so their check doesn't bounce...
Wonder what kind of a boat he owns?????

[Wild Horses]

Wonder what kind of a boat he owns?????
I was wondering what fleet He own's. :mad:

[NOTALENT]

That's ridiculous...what the hell do you do with that kind of money....??? Shit...I dont think a persone could spend that in a life time.... :mad: And I thought 6 figures was good... :rolleyes:

[Seadog]

For big CEOs that is not much of a package. heck, I would be surprised if he is in the Forbes top 100. The head of one of the HMOs has a package worth $1.6 Billion. Health care is costing us more money and putting more businesses in a hurt than the oil prices.

[Schiada76]

Does anyone know what % of profits or gross by oil companies is derived from gasoline sales?
How about the fact that no new refineries have been built in 30 to 40 years?
Or the fact that there are over 150 blends of gas due to enviro wackos when there used to be 3? Winter blends summer blends no new refineries, could that affect supply?
What about the dumb ass ethanol mandate but there isn't enough ethanol so we now import that too? What about the .50 per gallon tax on ethanol or the fact that ethanol is more expensive per gallon than gas? :220v:
Or how about the fact that there is more tax, state, local and federal on a gallon of gas than there is profit?
Not defending oil companies but it would be nice to know all the facts.

[burtandnancy]

MMDan, you are a gentleman, thanx. I'd buy you a beer anytime...

[Schiada76]

And another thing!
I'm a hell of a lot more pissed about paying more than 50% of my income in taxes than I am about gas prices. :rolleyes:

[boatnam2]

checkm out PEIX stock,glad i bought some when we switched to ethanol.

[Riomouse911]

Well, when refiners make 60 cents a gallon, they gouge us as well. When Exxon-Mobil made a $10 Billion profit last quarter.. we got screwed. The day I filled my truck (Thursday at the 76 Hidden Valley/I-15) Diesel started at 2.98.. after I dropped the boat off for annual servicing and drove past it was at 3.13.. when I picked it up at 5, the lady ran out with a pair of "2's" and it was 3.23. Thats in under 8 hours. No way in hell their costs rose 20+ cents in 2 jumps in less than one workday. Nope, I ain't buyin' that.
As for the gas blends, I am sick of cutting the air with a knife, and I prefer not to boat in water thats thicker than beef stew, so we gotta give Mother Earth a bit of a break once in a while. Are their better ways?, sure there are, but the man in command don't get donations from the Earth. Ethanol? That was a kiss ass subsidy lonesone George Dubya gave to the mid-west farm lobby (read Con-Agra and Monsanto, not "Farmer Bob") So it's gotta be sent to Ca by train, and it's costing us more than anyone else. And yes, everyone hates taxes, my house alone is now taxed at over 11K a year and rising annually. But if we want roads we can drive on, and firemen to put out the fire in our kitchens, and cops to catch the guy who stole our stuff, and on and on and on.. we gotta pay. Either as a straight "tax" or as a "user fee", either way folks still gotta pay to live in society. But are oils compaines, refiners, sellers screwing us daily? U bet.

[framer1]

Just saw on cnbc that Exxon Mobil makes 74,000 dollars a minute in profits. Not bad, sounds alot like the framing bussiness :cool:

[Kiddunot]

shit if they have all that nice stuff, i sure would like to see what kind of boat this clown has

[Dave C]

Not trying to defend any oil companies but I found something interesting out.
At least for Exxon and Chevron while their profits have increased in absolute dollars their gross margins have gone down considerably in the past couple of years. maybe that is interesting only to me.... but it does say alot.
I am still a big advocate of less consolidation in the oil industry. More competition is what we need, not more regulation. Regulation won't solve a thing and will actually make matters worse.

[Havasu Cig]

The day I filled my truck (Thursday at the 76 Hidden Valley/I-15) Diesel started at 2.98.. after I dropped the boat off for annual servicing and drove past it was at 3.13.. when I picked it up at 5, the lady ran out with a pair of "2's" and it was 3.23. Thats in under 8 hours. No way in hell their costs rose 20+ cents in 2 jumps in less than one workday. Nope, I ain't buyin' that.
If you are talking about cost to the station, it definitely can (and did this week) go up more than 20 cents in a day. We get price changes all day long and depending what you have in the ground and what deliveries you have on the way, the price can easily jump that much in one day. I am at $3.23 on diesel at one of my stations and I am only making a 6 cent margin before credit card fee's. I am basically breaking even right now on diesel just trying to keep some of my clientel. Don't blame the stations unless they are company owned, and even then I would be a lot more pissed at the government because they are the ones making the real $$$ off a gallon of gas. :cool:

[Schiada76]

The last I read their net was less than 10% of gross.
We need to know what their gross is and what % of that gross is attributed to gas sales only before making wild accusations of gouging. 10% of of what 500 billion, a trillion, which is it?
The ethanol issue isn't GW's fault either that crap was started back in his father's administration and furthered under Clinton. It's pure BS and yes will put massive profits into big Ag.
On the blends, why the fck can't the enviro weenies come up with a few that work nation wide? 150 is absurd. Remember the MBTE fiasco? The wackos demand the oil companies come up with an additive that serves the wackos criteria, only problem is MBT has a great tendancy to bond with H2O and has caused massive pollution on it's own.
I don't mind paying a FAIR tax, over 50% isn't fair, besides the fact that estimates run up to 50% of are tax dollars are just wasted.
The biggest thing everybody needs to remember is, adjusted for infaltion, we paid more in 1981 under Jimminy Carter than we do now.

[TheLurker]

Burt and Nancy, I always respect your posts because there always seems to be a lot of wisdom in themand just general comments about your life’s personal experiences.
On this subject while I think CEO compensation is way out of hand, I always take it with a grain of salt since I have seen the media distort the situations / facts to support their position and incite their viewers. At this time it is very popular to bash oil companies due to their high profits. Where were all these bashers when oil was $10-$15 a barrel the workforce was being drastically cutback and outsourced? The mergers during the 1990’s were to help these companies compete with the large state run oil companies of the Arab states, Venezuela, China etc.
Now onto Mr. Raymonds retirement compensation, Do you know how much of that is his basic pension benefit? Without looking it up I would guess his base salary (not including stock options) was around
4-6 million a year. A lot yes but by comparison to other CEO’s very low and with over 40 years of service that pension would be a large portion of it. How many companies even offer a pension these days let alone a verry good one?
Media Reports Regarding Lee R. Raymond Retirement Package
There have recently been a number of media reports regarding former Chairman Lee Raymond’s compensation at ExxonMobil. It is important to note that Mr. Raymond’s 2005 compensation reflected ExxonMobil’s very strong business performance, the long-term nature of his leadership of the corporation, and a very long and distinguished career with the company. His pension benefit is based on more than 40 years of service with the company and is calculated using the same pension formula that applies to all other U.S. dollar - paid employees in the ExxonMobil Pension Plan.His compensation was determined by the non-employee directors who comprise the Compensation Committee of the Exxon Mobil Corporation board. Many of the media reports confuse long-term and short-term compensation, and some include income from years before Mr. Raymond was Chairman. Nearly half of the totals reflected in these reports are restricted stock that is subject to industry’s longest restriction periods, 5 and 10 years. These restrictions apply even after retirement.
While I am not defending it there is more to it than the media reports give

[Havasu Cig]

If all these politicians want to do something about gas prices why don't they introduce legislation to cut taxes on a gallon of gas? It would drop the price in California up to 60 cents a gallon.

[rivercrazy]

Oil companies and especially gas stations love periods of rising prices. They are able to pass on higher prices while their tanks are still full of yesterday's lower inventory prices. Every commodity enjoys this same higher gross margins during periods of rising prices.
Gas is a little different than some other commodies in that the demand is inelastic. Higher prices don't put much damper on demand. The government needs to start getting involved.

[2Driver]

If all these politicians want to do something about gas prices why don't they introduce legislation to cut taxes on a gallon of gas? It would drop the price in California up to 60 cents a gallon.
That crossed my mind too but the tax revenue will just have to come from somehwere else like property tax sales tax, or vehicle license. Meanwhile this will just give the oil companies another 60 cent run up path. :mad:

[rivercrazy]

The other part of the equation here is that its clear the oil companies have at least on oligopoly if not a monopoly going here. But the oil company exec's are sneaky about their price gouging strategy and their behind closed doors price fixing meetings. And the gov't just doesn't want to do anything about it. Big oil is in their back pocket.....

[rivercrazy]

Meanwhile this will just give the oil companies another 60 cent run up path. :mad:
BINGO. This is what the oil companies want.

[Dave C]

$400 million seems like at lot and it is... but the guy runs a company that had gross annual revenues of $370 billion (with a B). I think they can afford to pay him.
Wish I had his job..... holy shiat.

[Dave C]

everyone is so eager to point the dirty end of the stick at the oil companies (maybe rightfully so) BUT:
the price of crude on the world market went from $30/barrel in 2002 to $72 today. The world price of crude is more or less controlled by OPEC. If they wanted to lower the price, they could. (by increasing production)
We import over 60% of our crude, mostly from OPEC. We have no control over the price of IMPORTED crude. (other than to increase domestic supply)
OPEC has a larger hand at sticking it to us than the oil companies.
This is beginning to look a lot like 1973. (i.e. OPEC oil embargo)

[rivercrazy]

Not to blame them either but their breakeven point has stayed relatively the same. Their gross margins increased on an explosive level. Their profits are skyrocketing. The oil company's can control their prices when profits are at these levels. They just choose not to do so - rightly so. They are in business to make money and increase shareholder wealth.
To compound the issue, they tend to control supply and keep upward pressure on prices

[Schiada76]

" Their gross margins increased on an explosive level. Their profits are skyrocketing."
Not as a % of gross.

[Freak]

Kuwait cuts is reserves in half.
"Kuwaiti reserves were only half of the announced figure of 100 billion barrels. PIW also claimed that proven reserves amounted only to 24.2 billion barrels, citing internal Kuwaiti records it claimed it had seen."
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/articleresult.asp?dismode=article&artid=2126964756
The price hikes we have seen in recent months/years are nothing compared to what we can expect as it becomes apparent that virtually all of OPEC stated reserve numbers are pure fiction.
As OPEC & Saudi Arabian oil goes, no one else will be able to fill the gap.
This information has been presented by Aramco at a number of meetings over the past year and is referenced by IHS Energy, WoodMac and Arab Oil and Gas.
Based on known information, it shows SA going into decline as early as 2009. Again, if SA goes into decline, Opec is in decline. Further, even if SA isn't in decline, Opec as an entity could still be in decline.
REMEMBER they WERE the swing producer. They are running full tilt now. When is the last time they actually pumped more when they said they would??? Through on top the fact that what they say is in the ground is a lie.
People this is gun in your face real. Stop listening to the double talk and finger pointing. It fixes nothing. Huston we have a PROBLEM.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/1286clip_image001.jpg

[cdog]

I think we have painted ourselves into a corner by trusting the elected morons to handle this for us.
It's not Bush's fault. The problem was created way before he came along. More blame lies on Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton than Bush Jr.. I think Bush knows that the political system is so full of BS and has so much Red tape that it would take a miracle to get anything done. Really freaking sad.
We would have to open up the flood gates to band aid the problem then come up with some serious technology to develop our own fuel. Battery operated cars and hydrogen cars are JOKE! And are not realistic!
The liberals and activists block any common sense fix with the "no more drilling, we should be off of oil totally" BS.
Introduce more Bio fuel, more Ethanol based fuels and mandate that the oil company’s must take 40% of their record profits to synthetic fuel development. It’s just common sense.
Furthermore the oil company's and Refineries are giving us exactly what we the voters asked for. Now we are screwed because we compete with China for crude oil to make into fuel so they can build their economy making our T shirts and TV’s. Good ole NAFTA. Another bright idea from our elected reps.
We are all in big trouble. Through bad legislation we have traded our blue collar manufacturing jobs for cheap energy. Only now instead of not buying the over priced goods we have to pay for fuel to get to work. We're all caught into this "Consumer Trap". Meanwhile we're importing poverty by not protecting our borders and the only fix that the majority will eventually come up with is more Tax's for us poor slobs. Sort of like fighting a fire with gasoline.

[Big Warlock]

Thank you for those that brought common sense to the argument. Burt and Nancy, I also have respected your posts as always being level headed. But we agree to disagree here.
How many of us are ok with winning the lottery? Couple of hundred million dollars? Seems we always are ok with that. How many of you complain when Bill Gates makes billions of dollars? And the fact that he has control of 90 % of the computer operating systems of the world. How many of you would complain at running a large corporation or owning one of your own and taking compensation for it? How about if you worked and risked your whole life for it?
I know a guy who started with a great education that his parents gave him. Engineering degree even! He did the work (school) and even worked summers on oil rigs to help pay the expenses of one of the top 5 engineering schools in the world. This same guy then went and joined the service when there were no jobs, went through OCS and transfered to Germany. He then servd his country, to include 9 months in Saudi during the first Gulf War. (In a tank) He then came back to the States, went to night school to get an MBA while working fulltime as an engineer. He bought a home with the GI bill. The home appreciated. He used the small amount of equity in the home to buy a small pipeline service company. He sold it at a profit within two years, invested in a larger home and went to work for others again. Now, with his MBA he worked for a large conatruction company as the VP / CFO. Five years later he finds an opportunity to purchase half of a company with the promise of buying the remainder in the future. He gathers every dollar he has and borrows money from family and friends who believe in him. 6 years later he buys the remainder of the company. Pays off his lenders. Has built the company to over twice what it was.
This guy risked it all. This guy treats his employees like gold! (Bonus packages, fair wage, great working environment) Now you want to tell this guy how much he should or shouldn't make??? :mad: That's what your saying to the Exxon gentleman, in a little different manner. Someone agreed to pay him if he did certain things. Apparently he did his part. Now you want to question his compensation? Fock you guys with that thinking! That's called socialisim, nearing communism (although no perfect form exists). You want to control what people make? You don't have a focking clue!!! Do you make over $100K per year? Well I think that is disgusting! The guy that comes over the border to work washing cars thinks your obscene! How do you feel about him?
Grow up people! Everyday we keep having this similar debate. Look at your politicians. Specifically the democrats! Do a little history. And be careful who you throw stones at! 85% of the world lives on less than 10K a year! They don't have boats and cars and stuff. No education at all. I already told you there will be hearing. a bunch of Democrats screaming at the TV about how wrong it is. And you know what? Nothing will happen. You know why? Because no one has done anything wrong. Educate yourselves. And watch what you wish for!
Off my box now. I feel better!

[Freak]

LOL..that was a good rant WARLOCK...
Yep..You cannot tell a private corporation how to run its business/service just because you don't like the way it acts and functions contrary to your own personal beliefs.
A democracy functions best when the citizenry is informed. We can see the results of the uninformed.
Does anyone realize that there is 35,000 gallons per minute of oil coming out of the ground?

[Freak]

I think we have painted ourselves into a corner by trusting the elected morons to handle this for us.
It's not Bush's fault. The problem was created way before he came along. More blame lies on Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton than Bush Jr.. I think Bush knows that the political system is so full of BS and has so much Red tape that it would take a miracle to get anything done. Really freaking sad.
We would have to open up the flood gates to band aid the problem then come up with some serious technology to develop our own fuel. Battery operated cars and hydrogen cars are JOKE! And are not realistic!
The liberals and activists block any common sense fix with the "no more drilling, we should be off of oil totally" BS.
Introduce more Bio fuel, more Ethanol based fuels and mandate that the oil company’s must take 40% of their record profits to synthetic fuel development. It’s just common sense.
Furthermore the oil company's and Refineries are giving us exactly what we the voters asked for. Now we are screwed because we compete with China for crude oil to make into fuel so they can build their economy making our T shirts and TV’s. Good ole NAFTA. Another bright idea from our elected reps.
We are all in big trouble. Through bad legislation we have traded our blue collar manufacturing jobs for cheap energy. Only now instead of not buying the over priced goods we have to pay for fuel to get to work. We're all caught into this "Consumer Trap". Meanwhile we're importing poverty by not protecting our borders and the only fix that the majority will eventually come up with is more Tax's for us poor slobs. Sort of like fighting a fire with gasoline.
Agreed....good rant.

[Jbb]

Oil Companies and Old Men are in Control.......

[burtandnancy]

Lurker, great response. And you were close to Mr Raymonds annual pay, I think I saw it posted at 6.5. Did you see BIG WARLOCK's analogy? Right on.
Over the years I was always distressed by greedy CEO's, who were worth it or not, stole giant sums of money from their own companies and the employees who worked so hard for them; ie, ENRON, World Com, Adelphia. Why do people with billions in cash need to swindle millions or billions more? Even young CEO's, big company presidents, what can you do with so much money other than pour it back into the community or give it to worthwhile charities. Too much money is merely stashed away and does little good for anyone, taxable or not. But I don't want to get into economics here, the only reason this is even on a boat site is because boats use fossil fuels, and right now it cost too damned much...

[Family Jewell]

Does anyone know what % of profits or gross by oil companies is derived from gasoline sales?
How about the fact that no new refineries have been built in 30 to 40 years?
Or the fact that there are over 150 blends of gas due to enviro wackos when there used to be 3? Winter blends summer blends no new refineries, could that affect supply?
What about the dumb ass ethanol mandate but there isn't enough ethanol so we now import that too? What about the .50 per gallon tax on ethanol or the fact that ethanol is more expensive per gallon than gas? :220v:
Or how about the fact that there is more tax, state, local and federal on a gallon of gas than there is profit?
Not defending oil companies but it would be nice to know all the facts.
I don't want to make your day worse but you should know about this !
San Diego county board of supervisors In April of 2005 approved a T.I.F for all new construction. The T.I.F fee will be charged to each new building from residential to commerical on a square foot basis except for new houses they will be a flat fee. Example, A new home depending on the area of town will cost from $5000.00 to $10,000.00 total. A new 7/11 will cost $45.00 a square foot and a vons will cost $145.00 a square foot.This money is suppost to go for new road construction. Now here is the good part. About 60% of the monies are really going to be used for the failing and non profitable public transportation systems. You are probably asking why am I telling you this. Well it is because the groverment said the gas tax was to pay for a part of road construction and maintence and if you look at the back of your registration card the next tim you have to renew a part of those monies are to pay for roads. So with all this money going for taxes that we are paying with should have by now the best roads in the world. We are be over taxed on several different levels and our politicians are doing nothing!!! I you ask any builders in your area I am sure the same law or addional tax has been approved. I know they are thinking about it in YUMA AZ. :cry:

[TheLurker]

Oil Companies and Old Men are in Control.......
At the moment it seems like they are but things do change over time.
What has impressed me most about this thread it has been a mostly civil
discussion on the cause of the high cost of gasoline. With some really good input from Freak, Dave C, Schiada76, Big Warlock, Cdog and Havasu Cigg,
My personal opinion there is a basket full of reasons from politics to the not in my backyard syndrome (ie) not being able to drill for oil in this country even when we know where a ton of it is ANWR. And yes good old capitalism. Schiada76 made a good point about net profit being about 10% or less. How many other companies have that low of profit margin? I can only think of 1 Grocery stores.
The other thing is that about half of those profits are made overseas where they are taxed by our federal government after being taxed in the country where they were made.

[ROZ]

Everything happens for a reason :D

[Schiada76]

I don't want to make your day worse but you should know about this !
San Diego county board of supervisors In April of 2005 approved a T.I.F for all new construction. The T.I.F fee will be charged to each new building from residential to commerical on a square foot basis except for new houses they will be a flat fee. Example, A new home depending on the area of town will cost from $5000.00 to $10,000.00 total. A new 7/11 will cost $45.00 a square foot and a vons will cost $145.00 a square foot.This money is suppost to go for new road construction. Now here is the good part. About 60% of the monies are really going to be used for the failing and non profitable public transportation systems. You are probably asking why am I telling you this. Well it is because the groverment said the gas tax was to pay for a part of road construction and maintence and if you look at the back of your registration card the next tim you have to renew a part of those monies are to pay for roads. So with all this money going for taxes that we are paying with should have by now the best roads in the world. We are be over taxed on several different levels and our politicians are doing nothing!!! I you ask any builders in your area I am sure the same law or addional tax has been approved. I know they are thinking about it in YUMA AZ. :cry:
It's commom knowledge in Cali that Sacramento has been stealing the gas tax dedicated to roads for years.
Now Does anyone here have any idea what an Oil companinies gross is and what % is from gasoline only????

[bignet]

nope, but i do know that the 1st quarter earnings are in for all big oil companies and they will be reporting it in the news in the next couple of days...early reports show 2 oil companies, i believe the #5 and #3 ranked oil companies are reporting triple the profits from last quarter, and one oil company reported a $3.92 billion gross for the 1st quarter of the year....that's outrageous. does anyone feel sorry for the poor oil companies now??? if George Bush didn't have his hands in the oil companies pockets, let's not forget his family comes from oil, maybe he'd do something for us...ya right! It's gonna get worst before it gets better
bignet

[Freak]

http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/1286404.jpg

[Havasu Cig]

Oil companies and especially gas stations love periods of rising prices. They are able to pass on higher prices while their tanks are still full of yesterday's lower inventory prices. Every commodity enjoys this same higher gross margins during periods of rising prices.
Gas is a little different than some other commodies in that the demand is inelastic. Higher prices don't put much damper on demand. The government needs to start getting involved.
Not when you are selling a gas load a day though. If you have a station that has a 20k tank, or more than one 87 tank you can load up on fuel. If you have a standard 12k tank that you can only fill to 10,800 and you are selling out every day then you are basically keeping up with your increase in cost to buy product. Their will be some overlap between loads, but you also get hammered when the price drops so it more than evens out.
BTW, I just got another 5 cent increase last night so prices will be going up again today... :mad:

[572Daytona]

nope, but i do know that the 1st quarter earnings are in for all big oil companies and they will be reporting it in the news in the next couple of days...early reports show 2 oil companies, i believe the #5 and #3 ranked oil companies are reporting triple the profits from last quarter, and one oil company reported a $3.92 billion gross for the 1st quarter of the year....that's outrageous. does anyone feel sorry for the poor oil companies now??? if George Bush didn't have his hands in the oil companies pockets, let's not forget his family comes from oil, maybe he'd do something for us...ya right! It's gonna get worst before it gets better
bignet
I'm seeing Exxon posting a 7% gain for 1st quarter earnings, that's almost triple, only 293% shy. :rolleyes: Harrah's just announced a 75% increase in 1st qtr profits, sounds like it's the Indian Casinos are doing more scalping than the oil companies. Why don't you buy some stock in the oil companies, than you too can have your hand in their pocket.

[dirty old man]

Exactly. I've got a few shares in oil, but not EXXON. My mistake

[Schiada76]

nope, but i do know that the 1st quarter earnings are in for all big oil companies and they will be reporting it in the news in the next couple of days...early reports show 2 oil companies, i believe the #5 and #3 ranked oil companies are reporting triple the profits from last quarter, and one oil company reported a $3.92 billion gross for the 1st quarter of the year....that's outrageous. does anyone feel sorry for the poor oil companies now??? if George Bush didn't have his hands in the oil companies pockets, let's not forget his family comes from oil, maybe he'd do something for us...ya right! It's gonna get worst before it gets better
bignet
If it's all GW's fault how come prices were higher under Cahtuh? :rolleyes:

[HM]

I'm seeing Exxon posting a 7% gain for 1st quarter earnings, that's almost triple, only 293% shy. :rolleyes: Harrah's just announced a 75% increase in 1st qtr profits, sounds like it's the Indian Casinos are doing more scalping than the oil companies. Why don't you buy some stock in the oil companies, than you too can have your hand in their pocket.
Dont go messing up the conspiracy with putting things in perspective. Kind of like the deficit...nobody talks percentages as they find out the percentages are not anything unusual, especially compared to historical data. Raw numbers get the knee jerk reaction combined with the sky is falling mentality which all sells a lot of news. Find out how you are being robbed blind by the oil companies...News at 11.

[572Daytona]

Dont go messing up the conspiracy with putting things in perspective. Kind of like the deficit...nobody talks percentages as they find out the percentages are not anything unusual, especially compared to historical data. Raw numbers get the knee jerk reaction combined with the sky is falling mentality which all sells a lot of news. Find out how you are being robbed blind by the oil companies...News at 11.
I guess it's just more fun to whine about having to fill up the tank in your 100,000+ boat that you bought with the equity from your house that tripled in value. I think the government needs to step in and do something about these out of control housing prices in the west. Talk about price gouging :)

[572Daytona]

More 1st qtr profit results, still looking for those 300% increases. So far the biggest is 13%, BP Amoco actually had a decrease in income:
CNSNews.com) - ExxonMobil Corporation on Thursday announced profits of $8.4 billion during the first quarter of 2006, not enough to satisfy Wall Street, but too much, according to environmentalist enemies of the company.
ExxonMobil Chairman Rex Tillerson stated that the corporation's profit for the first three months of the year was up 7 percent from the $7.9 billion during the same period in 2005. However, economic experts had predicted the company would turn a profit of over $9 billion. As a result, Exxon shares fell by over 1 percent in early trading on Wall Street.
Thursday's announcement was part of this week's mixed bag of economic news from the world's biggest oil producers.
On Tuesday, London-based BP -- the world's second-largest oil company -- said that net income fell 15 percent during the first quarter of 2006 due to higher taxes and a drop in output, but Houston-based ConocoPhillips -- the third-biggest U.S. oil corporation -- said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit rose 13 percent to $3.29 billion.
Chevron Corp. is expected to announce its first earnings report of 2006 from its headquarters in San Roman, Calif., on Friday.

[Dave C]

In absolute $'s yes, but as a percentage of revenues their margins are actually going down.
So they are not pocketing the same amount of profit of the increases in price/revenue BECAUSE THEIR COST OF PRODUCTION IS ALSO GOING UP.
EXXON FINANCIALS (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=XOM&annual)
Also their gross margin in 2005 is about 16%. (60/370) Very good but not fantastic.
Chevron too.
chevron (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=CVX&annual)
Their gross margins increased on an explosive level.

[Schiada76]

Damn those bastards!!!!!
They're making 7 to 10 % that's, that's highway robbery isn't it? :rolleyes: