Exxon Mobil posts record U.S. profit
 

This is truly obscene

Thursday October 27, 10:40 AM EDT


By Deepa Babington

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted a quarterly profit of $9.9 billion, the largest in U.S. corporate history, as it raked in a bonanza from record oil and gas prices.

While profit was up 75 percent and revenue rose 32 percent to more than $100 billion, the results fell short of Wall Street forecasts due to production outages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and sharply lower profit at the company's chemicals division.

Analysts have warned that record profits for Big Oil, at a time when consumers are paying sky-high prices for gasoline, could add to calls for a windfall profits tax or other penalties on oil companies.

Third-quarter net income at Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, rose to $9.92 billion, or $1.58 a share, from $5.68 billion, or 88 cents a share, a year earlier.



Excluding a gain of $1.62 billion from restructuring its stake in a Dutch gas transportation business, earnings were $1.32 per share. On that basis, analysts' average forecast was $1.39, according to Reuters Estimates.

"They were a bit disappointing, but this a temporary phenomenon," said Paul Kuklinski, an analyst with Boston Energy Research/Soleil Securities. "This is largely attributable to hurricane effects."

Exxon shares rose slightly in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Exxon's record earnings topped the $9 billion net profit reported on Thursday by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and were well above the best quarterly performances by Citigroup Inc., the world's largest bank -- $7.2 billion -- and conglomerate General Electric Co. -- $5.6 billion -- according to Reuters Fundamentals.

Oil and gas companies have been enjoying an unusually rosy environment for months. In the third quarter, they were helped by Katrina and Rita, which ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting energy operations in the region and sending oil prices and refining margins sharply higher.

In addition to calls for a windfall profits tax or other penalties, lawmakers and consumer advocates have been urging oil companies to expand refining capacity and take other steps to help bring down gasoline prices.

"We're already seeing some companies yielding to pressure," said Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit. "But everybody is waiting for the big lady to sing, which is Exxon."

PRODUCTION FALLS

Exxon's oil and gas production fell 4.7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as outages caused by Katrina and Rita, maintenance activities, and maturing fields more than offset higher production from new fields in West Africa.

Excluding the impact of the hurricanes, divestments and entitlement effects, output fell 1 percent.

Still, record crude oil prices -- which touched $70 a barrel in the quarter -- pushed earnings at its exploration and production unit to $5.73 billion, up $1.8 billion from a year earlier.

At its refining and marketing operations, profit rose to $2.13 billion, up $727 million from a year earlier. Stronger refining margins outweighed weak marketing margins and lower petroleum product sales.

Earnings at its chemicals division tumbled to $472 million, down $537 million from a year earlier, due to higher feedstock costs and lower margins.

Exxon Mobil's capital expenditures jumped to $4.41 billion from $3.63 billion a year earlier.

Shares of Exxon Mobil, the largest of the so-called "super-major" oil companies, were up 70 cents to $56.90 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares rose more than 10 percent in the third quarter but underperformed the broader Standard & Poor's integrated oil and gas index, which rose more than 13 percent.

they're company is worth a billion dollars more if the price of oil goes up 1 dollar.

nothing like bending over and taking it up the ass and not really doing anything about it

Shell produced there numbers for the third quarter. Increase of profit 67% from 4.2 to 6.7 billion in the third quarter compered to last year.

That's just rediculous. I need a hybrid.

I bought Exxon stock in '83, still got it :banana

Way to fuckin' gouge the consumers :mad:

Its criminal.


SilentKnight

Conoco Phillips profit is up like 89% this quarter!

http://today.reuters.com/business/ne...S-EARNS-DC.XML

You can blame oil companies (and you should) but I also would like to say FUCK OUR GOVERNMENT for allowing this to happen. Airlines are going bankrupt and blaming fuel prices, the govt. is hedging fuel for some of the carriers, oil companies are getting tax breaks... meanwhile gas prices are way up and profits are too... and they are blaming hurricanes???

In the end I'm glad prices are up... maybe people will be more willing to try public transportation, buy more fuel efficient vehicles and be more conscious of what they're doing!

EXXON to CONSUMERS . . . :321GFY

I'm glad i could help boost profits too.

Amen to that. I think more people are offended by high gas prices than they are by sex. Very few people I know of complain about good consensual sex. However, regardless of religion or personal beliefs it seems that most of us are offended by gas prices which are over twice what they should be by the standards set by the oil companies.

wonder who controls US govt.? Big Oil Cos. that's who.

I think each and every oil company should foot the bill for rebuilding the ravaged hurricane areas. They can afford at least $5 billion each. I also think we need an investigation into price collusion. I was amazed the other day driving back to CA when I stopped in Twin Falls, ID for gas. I always check out a few gas stations and in Twin Falls I was amazed and kept checking. Gas was the same price to the tenth of a penny at the ten plus stations I checked. Unleaded 2.749 everywhere. Someone in govt needs to bite the bullet and get on this. There is no way that is not illegal price collusion.

Hey...It's a free market society....The main priority of any publicly traded company is to boost their stock price for their shareholders....They've done this well over the past decade :2 cents:

Nobody was feeling sorry for them when oil was at a few bucks a barrel and the industry was barely scraping by and most survived due to mergers.
Now when oil has jumped up to its current barrel cost and they post record numbers well they are now evil.

I sometimes do not get this shit.