Congress grills oil execs on high prices

[laststeamtrain]

Source: AP

Congress grills oil execs on high prices

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago

Don't blame us, oil industry chiefs told a skeptical Congress. Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies said Tuesday they know record fuel prices are hurting people, but they argued it's not their fault and said their huge profits are in line with other industries.

Appearing before a House committee, the executives were pressed to explain why they should continue to get billions of dollars in tax breaks when they made $123 billion last year and motorists are paying record gasoline prices at the pump.

"On April Fool's Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said, aiming his remarks at the five executives sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a congressional hearing room.

"Our earnings, although high in absolute terms, need to be viewed in the context of the scale and cyclical, long-term nature of our industry as well as the huge investment requirements," said J.S. Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp., which made a record $40 billion last year.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080401/ap_on_go_co/congress_oil

[DJ13]

1. Congress needs to go a step further and include OPEC reps in these meetings

Get them on the record to explain why a product they can pump and ship anywhere in the world at a production cost of <$20 per barrel should be selling for $100 at a time that price is damaging the entire world's economy.

[wordpix]

6. got a link? A financial advisor I know says much the same, thinks oil shipments are sitting off the

coast somewhere. Says there's a lot of oil out there but it's being hidden somewhere---could he be right?

[Crazy Dave]

2. Off the record...

"We'd better start seeing some sweet bribes and party contributions or you can start kissing your tax breaks and tax payer subsidies good-bye you greedy mother-fuckers! Got to share the wealth with your friends here in Washington, D.C. or else!

[Parche]

3. Blah blah blha

And its because there have been no new refineries in the last 30years,
and consumption outweighs production
and the main reason is because of the Brazilian Wombat Fruit Fly's mating habits............
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Hell other companies dont get tax breaks for most things, why should f-in oil companies??
:grr: :grr: :grr: :hi:

[Crazy Dave]

4. Not only that

This doesn't count for the Halliburton's and Bechtal's of the world but for a regular small business owner getting government contracts they're only allowed a 6.5% profit margin and can be audited to verify it and pay back what's determined to be overage. That was in the mid-90's but probably still close to that number.

[wordpix]

7. always good points & I especially appreciate your views on the Wombat fruit fly

:rofl:

[librechik]

5. what a tongue lashing they gave those old saddles!

I'm sure they were very impressed.

Not.

[Ilsa]

8. Says Congress to Oil Company Execs:

"Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark. Bark bark. Bark bark bark bark; bark bark."

[Duke Newcombe]

12. Hah...you make funny!

Reminds me of this Far Side cartoon--that's about the Oil companies comprehension.



Duke

[Ilsa]

24. Oh yeah! I LUUUUUVVVVV the Far Side!

Congress has no bite, all they do is yap and whine like a hurt puppy.

[balantz]

9. I wonder, did they use the execs. own gas when they grilled them?

[Eric Condon]

10. Why is this kind of thing not happening every day?

These execs should be having to face the music like this constantly.

Moreover, every hearing should begin with someone asking them if they really believe that their huge profits are ever going to buy back their souls.

[Syntheto]

16. Nah, it won't buy back their souls, but....

...the profits will sure go along way towards 'contributing' to whatever friendly Senator or Congressperson's campaign needs the dough; usually reelection, no matter what letter they have behind their name. I'm sure that the tone of the exchange was a lot more cordial after all those pesky cameras and reporters were gone.

[NikolaC]

11. Huh

This is about four years and billions of dollars too late. In the end, I doubt anything will come of these hearings given Congress' history of having hearings and doing nothing about it afterward. It's just more chest thumping to try to get out of hot water with their constituents. However, the crisis is so bad that I doubt that the chest thumping alone is going to work this time.

[zonmoy]

13. Maybe they need waterboarding.

to get them to confess their scam.

[barb162]

26. Nah , guillotine... with a dull butter knife.

[zonmoy]

29. not slow and painful enough. that and I figured that if it is good enough

for the cabal to use on their victims then I figure that it is more than good enough to use on the members of the cabal.

[onethatcares]

14. the inevitable dog and pony show.

whahahahhahahahha, blahahahbhahbhalela, whahhahshahshdfhwhahd, blaahahahahahblahahlbhala.

"Thanx for the contributions and can I use the corporate jet for my next junket.......Bet the American people thought we were gonna do something, what a bunch of chumps. "

[madmom]

15. "their huge profits are in line with other industries" maybe he doesn't realize that

other industries are going belly-up. Out of touch.. much?

[laststeamtrain]

17. Guardian: Oil executives taken to task over soaring pump prices

Oil executives taken to task over soaring pump prices
Andrew Clark in New York
Tuesday April 01 2008. It was last updated at 21:47 on April 01 2008.

American lawmakers told top oil executives on Capitol Hill today that the laws of supply and demand are an inadequate excuse for rocketing prices at the petrol pump, ballooning profits and for slow progress on investment in renewable fuels.

Senior figures from BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips were summoned to Washington to appear before the select committee on energy independence and global warming - a new body established last year after the Democrats seized of control of Congress.

The executives were asked to explain why they are fighting to hang onto $18bn in US tax breaks when their combined profits hit a record $55bn last year and prices at the petrol pump reached a new high of $3.28 per gallon on Monday.

During a heated session, John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut, asked: "What do you say to the lady who has to turn over her entire social security cheque to pay for gas? That the laws of supply and demand are in effect?"

The Democrat-dominated committee pointed out that America's poorest 20% of households are spending more than 10% of their weekly budgets on fuel.

"The perception is terrible," said Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. "People talk about perceptions of Congress and of our approval ratings. Your approval ratings are lower than ours - and that means you're down low."

<more>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/01/oil.usa?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

[pinniped]

18. Congrass pulls this stunt every now and then and do absolutely nothing about it.

Congrass is freaking useless. At least the crooked oil companies provide fuel for our vehicles.

[RC]

19. Congress grills oil execs on record pump prices

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday took oil industry executives to task for booking huge profits on record gasoline prices while not investing more in renewable energy to help wean the country off foreign oil.

Congress dragged in executives from five international oil companies to explain why they should not forfeit $18 billion in tax breaks after posting profits of $123 billion in 2007.

Executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell testified before the panel in a spectacle not seen since Congress investigated energy price spikes in the wake of the 2005 hurricanes that blasted the vast oil infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"The American people deserve answers and it is time for Big Oil to go on the record about these record prices," said Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a long-time oil industry critic and chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0120444320080401?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

---

When is Congress going to do more than just hold hearings? Don't threaten them with recending their tax breaks, do it! Give them an excess profit tax on top of that also.

[C_U_L8R]

20. I was looking for the "April Fools"

[Patchuli]

22. Me 2!

Seriously, if they want to do something for this economic mess, force the prices DOWN!

[shain from kane]

21. You and Hillary vs. the Oil Companies

From the internets ---

"Hillary Wants To Seize Oil Company Profits
Looks like Senator Hillary Clinton is making the rounds again, this time want to seize profits from "Big Oil" in order to pay for some of her favorite projects. From Las Vegas Review Journal:



… Has Sen. Clinton really changed her tune? Exxon Mobil last week announced that it earned $39.5 billion in 2006, for a profit of about 10 percent -- the most profitable year any company has ever had.

The bulk of that money goes to stockholders who invested in the firm, either directly or through a company 401(k) plan. That profitability offers assurance that the company will keep developing new oil fields and refineries -- where politicians allow them -- to keep us supplied with gasoline and heating oil at historically low rates (once adjusted for inflation.)

But speaking last Friday at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting in Washington, Sen. Clinton said: "I want to take those profits and put them into an alternative energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy, alternatives that will actually begin to move us toward the direction of independence."

According to Investor's Business Daily, she made the remarks "with wide, glowing eyes that suggested the mere thought of taking money that didn't belong to her gave her a thrill."

But, "Threatening to hijack private property in the energy industry is a serious matter," the business daily points out, in a mild understatement. "If (Sen.) Clinton were able to seize profits, shareholders would suffer harm and Americans who use energy -- that's all of us, except maybe Ted Kaczynski in his Unabomber days -- would be saddled with higher prices and lower supplies.""

[RC]

23. Not if the government seizes the oil companies.

It worked for Venezuela. It might help bring an end to bu$h's war also.

[sergeiAK]

28. It would also cost us trillions

And be tied up in court until the sun goes nova on us.

[Betty]

25. nothing will change

and when oil is at $200 a barrel, they'll have another bullshit farce like this one and ask them the same questions and get the same answers... and then act like they've done something to help the American people. I hate congress almost as much as I hate bush.

[MiniMe]

27. I watched the hearing yesterday along with a few DU'ers (via web)

It was the usual Dems asking good questions and the repukes asking "how can we help you make even more money".

The oil execs want to drill in ANWR and to open more refineries. Sound familiar?

[BreweryYardRat]

30. "Grills." Yeah. Right.

As far as I'm concerned, anything over a billion in profit per year, per company, should be taken away at tax time. And some laws capping execs' salaries would be nice.