Big Oil defend huge profits before Senate

As if taking overwhelming advantage of people just to make enough money to christen an oil tanker Condoleeza is justifiably defensible in any parallel of the infinite universe!

As egregious as the profits may be, when the government, both state and federal, reduce their taxes I will listen to this. With taxes in the 50 cent a gallon range for state and federal, the government is complicit in the high prices. At least the oil companies are producing something to make their money. The government is simply confiscating money and producing nothing in the bargain.

Oil profits are outrageous but the major oil conglomerates may find that the higher they drive cost and gouge the consumer the more impetuous individuals will have to cut them out by developing and using alternate fuel sources. Perhaps ridiculous gas prices could be the catalyst that pushes our economy towards a more responsible green model.

If it was up to me, I'll shoot them while they are all nicely lined up.

these oil companies have been building up to this for 20 years buying out the companies and refineries in their chosen areas. they knock down the refineries so that the existing ones can be over worked allowing for the price to be driven up when pipes break or they need maintenance. then they have a monopoly as the only companies that can equaly drive up the price with no competition. despite what they say the US companies are gaining a monopoly on oil in Iraq because the US set up the government resulting in ultimate profits. its forcing every other country to drive up prices to compete with their investments. they sure are investing in other oil, everyone elses with their profits.

Good to see capitalism is alive an well here.

Where were all you guys back in the 80's when oil was at 10% a barrel and oil companies were going out of business right and left?

When you have a chance look up "Profit Margin" maybe then you will understand how things work.

Errr, no Kabimbi

The senate is looking for a scapegoat. The reality of the situation is that we are reaching the peak production of oil. They can't pull it out of the ground fast enough to fuel your 15 mpg SUV.

Americans use 50% of the world's oil and the demand increases everyday. The world's biggest oil fields are reaching a point where it is taking more and more time to pull out less and less oil.

These CEOs have been hugely irresponsible in not informing the public about this, but they are not making this up.

we need to raise the taxes on civlians and give a good tax break to truckers, city and school buses, police and recue , airlines, and im sure i forgot a few

I believe that the excuse, from the oil companies, of having so much expense, is really that, just an excuse. They don't have the most persuasive attorneys working for them for nothing. They will continue to cry with no accountability...and keep raising the price...and what are we, average Joe, going to do about it...nothing..!! We're being played..!!!

Meanwhile, they're laughing all the way to the bank...

Don't blame the guys who are doing their best for their respective companies. They don't care about you and aren't forcing you to give them your money.

Quit complaining. Buy a hybrid.

How can they defend themselves as the population gets ever more poor while they get obscenely rich?

I mean, its capitalism, deal with it, but, shouldn't honesty be SOMEWHERE in the business place?

I agree with Ibward, we need these high prices to continue to stimulate the new green economy. Let them make their profits, for they will be very sorry when the average city liver won't need their product anymore.

With Electric cars in the city getting 150 to 200 miles on a charge, who needs more than that if all you drive a day is less than 100? There are so many of these electric cars on the horizon that it won't be long before we can all afford one.

The only time gasoline will be needed is on the trips between cities where you will need to have a hybrid so you can get from point a to point b; unless you take some other form of electric powered rail transportation.

Saladin: i realise what your saying and maybe what im saying is alittle bumpy but i watched a 2 hour report on the monopoly of oil companies on american oil.. the equivelant to the parlaiment channel, i was in chicago for 2 weeks haha. i dont remember the name of the state department that did the analysis. i geuss all i can do is take into account what you said but look into it. the report was meant to adress the monopoly the companies have on individual areas, and the fact ther was no competition to bring down the price. this was in late march, and also stated that refineries had been baught up and demolished despite single refineries being over worked forcing breaks and maintenance driving the price up further. it also analysed previous years and the points there was meant to see a drop, seeing little to no drop in price at the expense of the consumer.

I agree, ibward. Boycotting works, and what a surprise it will be to Big Oil when people are unable to buy gasoline and would no longer even want to. Major flaws become immediately evident in the way we've planned our communities. How many of us live in sprawling suburbs complete with poorly planned roadways, a lack of sidewalks, and no businesses able to pay much better than minimum wage? All industry has been outsourced from small town America to Mexico or China, and people have been forced to commute for hours a day on crowded highways, to work in the city and make barely enough to fill the tank for the trip home.

When people speak of breaking dependence on foreign oil, they don't realize that the addiction is ingrained our very lifestyles and that every one of us will have to bring about change in our own lives to have an effect on our global economy.

The problem with this story is that all that happened in this asinine is that all our fairly elected officials did was yell at them. Heck, I could yell at jubal for thirty minutes and it would have the same effect on solving the oil/price/environmental crises that we are in the midst of right now.

Take the geniuses from the oil companies and put them to work making solutions, if anyone can make money making hybrids, it's the oil men.

Whoops didn't refresh my page for a while. I agree implicitly with artist_speaks_out. It frustrates the hell out of me that I have to drive everywhere. Why can't I ride my bike or walk? The infrastructure for that sort of travel just isn't where I live (small triangle of dying railroad towns in midwest).

It's not even encouraged AT ALL. So what do I do, drive everywhere because I'm too afraid that I'll get my ass ran over because I decided to be environmentally minded.

It's so hard being an oil executive...boo hoo

Man it's just ridiculous how much we use oil here in the USA. The USA needs to work on having a better transportation system, a sort of road for people on bikes etc...

Lowering the gas prices and making more accessible to this consuming nation of ours to start taking in the 100 of millions of gallons a day will only quicken the instability of the enviroment and THAT. IS. BAD! for us.

Please check my math please

$ 9,920,000,000 (exxon's profits)
/ 0.098 (profit per dollar)
= ----------
$101,224,489,795 (gross dollars)
----------
$101,224,489,795
/ $3.60 (roughly cost per gallon)
= ----------
28,117,913,831
----------
28,117,913,831 (gallons of gas)
* 0.45
= ----------
12,653,061,223.95 (state, federal and local taxes)

The state and federal government made 12 billion dollars in the first quarter this year, JUST FROM EXXON.
----------

I think they made a bit more then that...

http://current.com/items/88929788_exxon_mobil_reports_1...

OK so the State and Federal government made WAY OVER 12 BILLION DOLLARS in taxes from you and me. and they will collect the taxes from the earnings from EXXON, too.
JUST FROM EXXON.

$10,890,000,000 (net)
/ 0.098 (profit margin per dollar)
= ----------
$111,122,448,979.59 (gross)
----------
$111,122,448,979.59 (gross)
/ $3.60 (per galloon)
= __________________
30,867,346,938.77 (gallons of gas)
----------
30,867,346,938.77 (gallons of gas)
* $0.45 (state, federal, and local taxes)
= ----------
$13,890,306,122.44 (how much the government made on you and me)

The government made $13.89 billion plus some change. JUST FROM poeple who bought their gas from EXXON.

Exxon will still have to pay their own taxes on the $10.89 billion they made. So the Government is walking away without lifting a finger to make the oil with well over $16 BILLION this first quarter.

And that is being generous on that .45 cents of taxes per gallon it is probably more than that.

We've reached the peak. Now wait for the crash.

Lecturing the two Lying Rogers: Clemens and Goodell hasn't gotten Congress, or the American people anywhere...

So why, after years of rubber-stamping Bush's Capitalism at any cost Energy Initiatives, do they all of a sudden think that lambasting their largest campaign contributors is going to accomplish anything?

This is a problem that WE THE PEOPLE must tackle ourselves.

EVERY time you vote for a candidate receiving monies from Exxon, Shell, Conoco/Phillips, etc, you are no longer part of the problem, you ARE the problem.

Can't wait for JetSki season... :-(

They are raping the country it true. They are traitors. Do you know how they sleep at night, how they rationalize it? They say it's legal. The Federal government allows them to do it, so it must be okay.

Congress has enabled it over the years by legislation which allows people who only care about money, not people and not our country, to speculate on the basic necessities of our society. A Ripusoffican dominated government - it's time to do something about it.

Bush will burn in hell and so will these guys!

I swear to God if these prices don't go down soon my family will invest in a horse and buggy.

Some politicians want to extract much more oil from US soil so as to keep those raw oil profits nationally and at the same time reduce the price with more supply, this is exactly what the oil industry wants too, even though they used to make 4 cents out of every dollar and now that is 1.6 cents, war caused costs have gone up. That also being another reason why the price jumps, it is an unstable dangerous commodity. Storing quantities goes up too and they all increase demand. Last, but definitively not least, these companies stocks are low (oh why) which fuels wall street.
but if that were the case and national oil reserves are the ones mainly used, then the US should trade in euros.

why if the average ceo made 30 million dollars in a year, the industry’s profits have quadrupled since the war, and still want tax cuts!

if US crude oil is abused of, we would be creating a higher price and still not invest it properly, while getting some useless cash in the process. The only option is to switch the main burners off, transportation and electricity.
Difficult, so how about in the meantime we nationalize oil, employ these companies’ though the govt. and have proper public scrutiny. This is why the current political need for clear government is perfectly timed and ideals need to be applied.
Invest directly in reversing the need for oil as a source of energy; such a curve can only grow exponentially to our benefit.
The system would not give any person a chance to make a profit out of any pollutant. Then, as soon as technology makes any polluting industry a clean one, the nationalization ceases.

Any democratic country can apply something as socialist as this. If we want profits from the actual product to stay local, we know nature is in trouble and we know this was caused by corporate management issues, then REPLACE THE 30 MILLION DOLLAR CEOs WITH SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, who live in a democracy and have the freedom to move on to other ventures if they want, but none of those ventures will be causing harm to the environment. The only reason why a crazy idea may be needed is because of timing issues only. Trying to steer corporate abuse has gone from bad to worse, still, we should not try to weed out all bad corporations, only those harmful to the planet, and only until they cease, like putting a person in jail, but this being a company. No more speed tickets, rehabilitation.

Oil is becoming far too important to the national and international economies to the point of being a major flashpoint for revolutionary processes. It is already causing mass pandemonium with food prices worldwide. Unlike other commodies, oil is being treated as the product of a monopoly (oligarchy, in this case, but the result is about the same here). I believe it is intentionally being messed with by the major powers, the Bilderburg Group et al. When it calms down they will have gotten their way, for example, I bet you by this time next year the drilling moratorium in the U.S. will be no more, amonst other outcomes. Thing is, will these puppetmasters with their fingers on the real trigger of this thing know when to flinch before the world spirals out of control?

I'm definitely not immune to the effects of increased energy prices but do understand the supply and demand relationship. Big Oil has seen this coming, in my assessment, for at least a half century or greater. Oil is a finite resource and if you control some piece of the equation whether it be drilling, production or refining, you're in a commanding position to profit from the ever increasing demand for an already finite natural resource. Americans especially are feeling the heat because our country was literally built on the access to inexpensive energy. Now the proverbial ish is hitting the fan and life as we know is about to change - significantly. Perhaps we should have followed the Brazilians lead 30 years ago... All of the 'alternative and renewable energey' humdrum is a day late and depressed dollar to short.

Reading these comments i have come to a few conclusions.

1) Many people have no grasp of capitalism.

2) People are jealous

3) Populism today is more of a threat to freedom than communism.

The Oil Exec's need to raise prices to bleed as much money from us as possible before we turn to alternatives....their business strategy of keeping us stupid, oil dependent and confused through a fog of media is not working as well anymore so they need to do what they can.
Arise you thinking people! We can overthrown this Neo-con regime that is choking us with misinformation! We need to be extremely wary of the Voting Process. Once we break through this AMKBR (After Mad King Bush Regime) we can apply simple and elegant scientific solutions to critical problems.. and all prosper, globally! With brilliant thinkers all over the world, unencumbered by corporate greed make great strides to feed the hungry and prevent disease, immediately. We will also look at education based methods of birth control to keep populations down without resorting killing people on borders.

I would personally would love to see more Vegan diet encouraged to stop global warming..this is a no loose proposition for everyone.
This doesn't mean everyone has to stop eating meat right now but to encourage it as a goal so everyone has a piece of thriving sustainable existence. We can strive for more compassionate local family run livestock farms also for those who don't want to give up meat.

It is sad to say, but if many of us were in the position that they are in, I'm pretty sure we would be trying to make as much money as possible. If consumers will pay a higher cost for something, a company will charge it. It is simply supply and demand economics.

However, I'd like to point out that in Europe, for years now, gas has been over $5 a gallon. Over $7 in some places! You know what? I'm glad that our oil prices are finally catching up. Maybe this will take Americans' blindfold off to the fact that oil is a non-renewable resource that we need to lessen our dependence on.

As sad as it is, if it takes something like a massive rise in gas prices to stimulate a global green movement, so be it. I say, bring on the price hikes. My bicycle won't be affected. Neither will my hybrid car when I eventually have the money to buy one.

We are just a bunch of sheep and the oil execs are wolves and no matter how much gas goes up, they no you will be at the pump ready to fill up. I see people filling up everyday and they still complain how much these guys profit. If you really cared, "STOP PAYING $4 BUCKS A GALLON!" I have a Jeep Cherokee , I had, sorry, I gave it up beacuse I refuse to be eaten alive by these fat wolves. Everyone complains but no one does anything about it.

The more we consume, the more the price of oil will go up.This is simple supply and demand. This is no new fact. The real problem here is people buying oversized cars, trucks and SUVs. If we could consume alot less gas on a regular bases the price of gas would drop.

Agreed realitybytes, everyone is complaining, but there is little being done to help solve this problem. We need to step up and do something! The sooner the better.

Bill Moyers said it best...

betrayed by a powerful cabal of secrecy...

http://inky99.dailykos.com/

from the diary....

Bill Moyers: We are in Trouble

It is the Lobbyists who teach the double talk you hear even here. NOT ONE DIME SHOULD BE TAKEN FROM ANYONE RUNNING FOR OFFICE FROM THESE PEOPLE.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/20124

This all connected to THEIR PACK OF LIES...

From the link...

The head of the air division at EPA is a utility lobbyist who has represented the worst air polluters in America. The second in command at EPA is a Monsanto lobbyist. The head of Superfunds, an agency critical to quality of life here in Oregon, is a lobbyist whose last job was teaching corporate polluters how to evade Superfunds.

Nothing but one GIANT authoritarian CON...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism

And what was the price of the product when these so called leaders came into OFFICE. $25 BBL.

ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY.