Oil Industry Boom Likely to Continue

[Conservativesux]

Oil Industry Boom Likely to Continue

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE,

AP Business Writer

Fri Apr 29, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Pumped up by persistently high energy prices, the oil industry maintained its streak of massive — and growing — quarterly profits this week, aggravating motorists and amazing financial analysts.

"I have been following this industry for 18 years and I have never seen anything like this," Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said Friday. "It's like they're printing money."

The results of the world's four largest oil companies illustrate just how well the industry has fared lately. Since the end of 2003, Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos., BP Group PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ChevronTexaco Corp. have earned a combined $97 billion, including $23.8 billion during the first three months of this year.

More:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050429/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_industry_bonanza;_ylt=AmhSUVL0_zdoWmbcGj.gBqqyBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[ET Awful]

1. You have to love their logic . . .

The oil industry has larger profits pumped by high energy prices. . . I guess that it never entered their freakin' minds that energy prices are high because oil companies are making massive profits. If the oil companies weren't so fucking greedy, energy prices wouldn't be so high.

[Geo55]

2. I forget the comic (maybe George Carlin) who put it so succinctly,

"It's the economic law of supply & demand.....

WE have the supply an' WE can DEMAND whatever the F*&k we want.

[gizmo1979]

3. Someone explain this system to me please.

Are these big companys the middlemen?They sell the futures, or buy the futures?Obviously we're over paying for the gas.But where in the whole system are we getting screwed the worst?

[Frederik]

9. They are vertically integrated

they control the entire chain. Therein lies their power. They drill and pump and refine and store it, they even own the gas stations.

The only problem for them are some recalcitrant third world countries that demand unsupportable royalties and taxes.

[gizmo1979]

10. So if you control supply

and can create false shortages you have an unlimited cap to what you can earn!What does Detroit think about all of this?Big oil is killing them.They could actually exact revenge by coming out with new technology.

[wishlist]

4. Meanwhile Bush is pushing less regulation and even more help for them

Bush continues blaming all of our economic problems on lawsuits while pushing even more government help for the oil industry with no assurances of any benefit to consumers.

Why does no one in the media ever point out that it might be more than just coincidence that our Pres and Vice Pres are former oil industry executives during this period of unprecedented oil profits.

[Yavin4]

7. Here's Your Answer

Why does no one in the media ever point out that it might be more than just coincidence that our Pres and Vice Pres are former oil industry executives during this period of unprecedented oil profits.

We don't have a news media any more. The same people that sit on the boards of the oil companies are the same people that sit on the boards of these mega media monopolies.

What passes for news is really nothing more than the corporate PR dept's daily missives.

[depakid]

5. How about a windfall profits tax

for these gouging assholes....

[Rex]

6. I just can't imagine how this could be.

Bush & Cheney - giving America a sloppy handjob and calling it sex!

[drduffy]

8. This was predicted

by the 'Peak Oil' writers. Peak Oil is coming, probably fairly soon. Unless the neocons can secure the oil fields of Iraq and Iran in time. World domination, here we come.

It is all going according to plan.

I think I'll puke.