Yes, we can.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

It was hypothetical example to explain "windfall' profits and why they perhaps aren't always a bad thing, in that they bring others into the market creating competition and lowering prices.

If I tell you that I am an oil man . . .


Seriously, are there Jet Blue equivalents entering the oil production business with any regularly?

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

In 2007, Exxon earned a 7.6% profit margin. ....
7.6% is not a big profit margin. I really fail to see how eliminating all of their profits on the sale of gasoline would do much anyway. It's about 9 cents a gallon. Yes, everyone uses it and it certainly affects the price of everything else. But the oil companies are not the bad guys for making 9 cents a gallon.

..... Meanwhile, everyone will continue to whine and Congress will threaten to sue OPEC and Pelosi and company will shut down debate on the issue becase they are on the unpopular side.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

Believe it or not, computers are still a luxury item. Yes, you have a better chance of increasing your earning potential if you have computer skills but a computer in your home is still a luxury.

Paying the utility bills, buying food is not.

I agree. I just got a notice of a rate increase request from my electric company. I'm pissed off about it, but I'm pissed off about it because we haven't built a new nuclear power plant 30 years, not at the utility companies. I could find the other 123 companies on the fortune 500 that make a higher margin (or whatever it is....I think that was the ranking of Exxon in terms of profit margin last year) and discuss each one and the impact on those affected by them, but the point stands that 7.6% is not a high profit margin.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

If I tell you that I am an oil man . . .


Seriously, are there Jet Blue equivalents entering the oil production business with any regularly?

But the free market example still stands. Why are oil prices so high? Because of speculation that supplies aer going to be cut off, primarily. So if that pressure is taken off the market because of US drilling, then that is a step in the right direction. I would also figure that if domestic supplies of oil were opened for easy access there would be several venture capitalists wanting to get in on it and perhaps starting up that Jet Blue you are talking about it. Maybe csome guy figures out a cost effective way of extracting oil from oil shale. Who knows?

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

but the point stands that 7.6% is not a high profit margin.

I must have missed where you showed the source for the 7.6% profit margin. Regardless of the profit margin, they are making record breaking profits.

I'd like to see something adjusted for inflation. Much like movie sales records being broken, prices change.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

7.6% is not a big profit margin.

There must be something here I'm missing. They make more money than any company ever in the history of man. The price for the product has double in a very short period. Is their profit margin the same as it was? If so, why are they making so much right now? The amount of gas/oil purchased does go up each year even in the face of alternative technology, but I'm assuming it didn't skyrocket. Shouldn't their earnings be steady, not shooting up? (They are quite larger than 5 years ago, correct?)

I would do research but I'm on a quickie break and don't have time now.

[scaeagles]

Here is somethign that could explain it a bit.

Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.

Note the volume of business. It's immense. Honestly, I don't know where all their income comes from.

Exxon actually buys more crude than it sells.

Profits from its refining business totaled $1.6 billion in the quarter, less than half of what they were last year.

So they are making much less on refining the product than they were because of higher oil prices. Yes, they produce oil, but they buy more to refine than they actually produce themselves.

While oil prices in the quarter were nearly twice as high as the same time last year, gasoline prices only rose about 30%.

Seems like there could be justification for gas to be even more expensive.

Recent efforts by countries such as Russia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan to gain greater control of their own domestic oil resources have also hampered the ability of international oil companies to increase production.

These countries are just a few who are expanding control of their resources for domestic use. This pushes up the price of oil on the international market.

Defenders of oil company profits also point out that their profit margin, at around 8%, is slightly below average for S&P 500 companies

So CP, the oil companies are not gouging anyone.

[Sub la Goon]

What I don't get is that the same people who defend the oil companies while they rape us are the same people who defend the current administration for their needless wars, runaway expenditures, and criminal proclivities.

Is it really a free market when huge oil companies get tax breaks and hide behind offshore shelters? When car makers and buyers get government incentives for making/buying trucks and SUV's while electric vehicles are taken off the roads?

I don't trust the accounting we are being fed any more than I trust Jeffrey Skilling to do my taxes.

And the answer we are given is to drill more. Drill locally. So the oil companies get more oil - that they can sell to us. Places like Venezuela have nationalized their oil, so they pay less for it. Any oil we produce would go into the international pool and probably not amount to a huge difference.

If we get an administration that is not made up of oil flunkies and focuses on energy independence, maybe we could get somewhere. Going on a path that eventually leads to being oil-free would probably drop the speculative price immediately too.

[scaeagles]

How long do you honestly believe it will be until we are "oil-free"?

You would like us to immitate Chavez and his nationalization of the oil inductry in Venezuela? That's amazing.

Apparently we have differing definitions of rape, because I don't see 7.6% as rape. But if you don't believe the numbers, you don't believe the numbers, in which case no logic can sway you.

If you read the link provided, you'll see that on the 138 billion in revenue....

Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over $12 billion in what it called "other taxes."

That's 32 billion on 138 million, or almost three times their profit. 30% is a decent tax rate, but there is no such thing as a corporate tax. Corporate taxes are just additional costs passed along to the consumer.

[Fab]

They can make all the money they want.

But they shouldn't be getting handouts and tax breaks from the government. They are making their profits on the backs of Joe Average, who doesn't get anywhere near as much of a tax break. It's not right.