Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit

[The Real Messi]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- 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.

That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.

That barely beat the previous corporate record of $11.66 billion, also set by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2007.

But Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) profit fell short of Wall Street estimates.

Analysts predicted the company, the world's largest publicly traded oil firm, would make $12.1 billion in profit on $144.4 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

Exxon shares fell about 2% in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Excluding money set aside for a recent damage award related to the Valdez tanker spill back in 1989, Exxon made $11.97 billion in the quarter.

Pricey oil cuts both ways
Exxon was both helped and hurt by high oil prices.

As an oil producer, the company makes a lot of money when crude prices rise. Exxon made $10 billion from selling oil in the latest quarter, up nearly 70%.

But as a refiner, it must also buy crude oil to turn into gasoline. 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.

"Record crude oil and natural gas realizations were partly offset by lower refining and chemical margins, lower production volumes and higher operating costs," Exxon said in a statement.

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

That's one reason why the stock of major oil companies - such as Exxon, Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BP (BP) - that both produce and refine crude has been relatively flat over the last year, despite the runup in oil prices.

Meanwhile, shares of companies that mostly produce oil, like Anadarko and Apache, have soared in the last year, while shares in refiners like Valero and Sunoco have tumbled.

Where the money goes
Exxon spent $7 billion in the second quarter finding and producing more new oil, up 38% from last year. Still, oil and natural gas production from the company fell 8%. Even excluding special events such as a labor strike in Nigeria and seizure of fields in Venezuela, production slipped 3%.

The company returned $10.1 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, 12% more than last year.

On an earnings-per-share basis, Exxon made $2.22. That was still lower than analysts had expected, but 24% higher than last year, a gain Exxon attributed to its aggressive stock buyback plan.

The big international oil companies have been criticized for plowing much of their profits back into stock buybacks and other programs to benefit shareholders, as opposed to exploring for more oil which could bring down the price of crude for everyone.

"While oil companies are earning record profits and gas prices are soaring, the largest oil companies have invested more resources in stock buybacks than U.S. production," said Congressional Democrats in a press release shortly after Exxon announced its earnings.

Other critics charge the oil companies with deliberately restricting production in an attempt to keep prices high.

The industry says it's investing as much as it can in finding new oil, but is having a hard time given the shortage of workers and equipment in the sector.

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.

In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. 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."

Political backlash
With Americans paying nearly $4 a gallon for gas, oil company earnings have been political fodder of late.

Congressional Democrats said they are having a conference later in the day to call for an end to tax breaks for big oil firms.

Several bills have been introduced in Congress to enact a "windfall" profits tax on these earnings, or at the very least eliminate manufacturing tax exemption oil companies now enjoy. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama wants to tax oil companies at a special rate every time crude goes over $80 a barrel.

Most plans would either use this newfound tax money to fund investments in renewable energy, or give it to low income Americans struggling with high energy prices.

But so far those efforts have been blocked - mainly by Republicans - who say raising taxes on oil companies will only discourage investments in finding new oil and raise the price of crude.

First Published: July 31, 2008: 8:09 AM EDT

[The Real Messi]

greed is the root of all evil

[jameznyhc]

drill drill drill

[jameznyhc]

greed is the root of all evil

you realize they but there oil on the open free market from opec and they do not set the price right??? lol .. opec does .. thats why we gotta drill ... also they operate on 8% profit ..most industries operate 20% profit margin ..

[John Kennedy]

you realize they but there oil on the open free market from opec and they do not set the price right??? lol .. opec does .. thats why we gotta drill ... also they operate on 8% profit ..most industries operate 20% profit margin ..

so we can contribute more oil to opec

[jameznyhc]

so we can contribute more oil to opec

so we set our own pricing .. and we wont be dependant on opec .. why would exxon buy from opec when they have there own supply here in the states:yourcrazy ..lol

[John Kennedy]

so we set our own pricing .. and we wont be dependant on opec .. why would exxon buy from opec when they have there own supply here in the states:yourcrazy ..lol

exxon doesn't buy from opec lol .. exxon owns the drills, they are producers.. small business owners own the retail end and hurt the most, exxon just does marketing for them. We are consumers, opec is in the middle. It's Exxon's job to look for oil and sell to opec and they will continue to.. why wouldn't they? you think they're going to allocate the U.S. drilled oil for the U.S. only? Unless we allow startups to get the contracts to drill and keep them local, it hurts us. We talked about this many times already. Unless you're now supporting socializing oil? Because that's what "setting our own pricing" means. You know that'll never happen, this is America.

Mccain is like a megaphone for the oil companies right now... they tell him they want more land to explore (even though they don't need it.. but $4 a gallon is an opportune time for this marketing campaign), his campaign comes up with the selling point and markets the idea to the American people by telling them it'll help lower prices at the pump and dependence on foreign oil... the clueless American public eats it up. What else is new.

[CraftyVet16]

exxon doesn't buy from opec lol .. exxon owns the drills, they are producers.. small business owners own the retail end and hurt the most, exxon just does marketing for them. We are consumers, opec is in the middle. It's Exxon's job to look for oil and sell to opec and they will continue to.. why wouldn't they? you think they're going to allocate the U.S. drilled oil for the U.S. only? Unless we allow startups to get the contracts to drill and keep them local, it hurts us. We talked about this many times already. Unless you're now supporting socializing oil? Because that's what "setting our own pricing" means. You know that'll never happen, this is America.

Mccain is like a megaphone for the oil companies right now... they tell him they want more land to explore (even though they don't need it.. but $4 a gallon is an opportune time for this marketing campaign), his campaign comes up with the selling point and markets the idea to the American people by telling them it'll help lower prices at the pump and dependence on foreign oil... the clueless American public eats it up. What else is new.

its like beating a dead horse..... no matter how much we drill here... the oil we find will be available for everyone, not just us.... and it will do nothing for the price..... so lets NOT DRILL DRILL DRILL

[jameznyhc]

exxon doesn't buy from opec lol .. exxon owns the drills, they are producers.. small business owners own the retail end and hurt the most, exxon just does marketing for them. We are consumers, opec is in the middle. It's Exxon's job to look for oil and sell to opec and they will continue to.. why wouldn't they? you think they're going to allocate the U.S. drilled oil for the U.S. only? Unless we allow startups to get the contracts to drill and keep them local, it hurts us. We talked about this many times already. Unless you're now supporting socializing oil? Because that's what "setting our own pricing" means. You know that'll never happen, this is America.

Mccain is like a megaphone for the oil companies right now... they tell him they want more land to explore (even though they don't need it.. but $4 a gallon is an opportune time for this marketing campaign), his campaign comes up with the selling point and markets the idea to the American people by telling them it'll help lower prices at the pump and dependence on foreign oil... the clueless American public eats it up. What else is new.


i meant opec wont be setting their price .. we wont be dependant on SA, Iran, Venezuala..our money stops going there .. thats all i care about ...If Obama taxes big oil they pass the price to us..while we make our enemys richer..

[John Kennedy]

i meant opec wont be setting their price .. we wont be dependant on SA, Iran, Venezuala..our money stops going there .. thats all i care about ...If Obama taxes big oil they pass the price to us..while we make our enemys richer..

opec will still be setting their price because they'll still be drilling in other countries too, along with the U.S., and still be giving most of their supplies to opec (if not all, not sure what opec's regulations are for companies) so that they can export it around the world.. why would an exxon cut down and only concentrate on the U.S. market all of a sudden? They are a business.

Take this as an example.. here's a NY Times article from 1993 talking about Mobil winning rights to drill off the coast of Vietnam.. look at how Mobil lobbies to drill.. they don't care about politics.. they want as much land exploration as possible... and it won't affect price or dependence... unless we socialize or make govt restrictions on mid-east oil, or only use oil from local companies even though a global company can supply it for less.. both which seem impossible. The media has us thinking this is the mid-easts fault, but its our politicians fault. Bush goes to SA to "ask" for them to increase production? You weren't insulted by that?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D91039F932A15751C1A9659582 60

[John Kennedy]

Plus Exxon just planted new drills in Iraq last month, along with a bunch of other global oil companies.. these are the lobbyists that are funding our politicians campaigns and pockets.

Do we think these wars are for oil yet?

[jameznyhc]

Plus Exxon just planted new drills in Iraq last month, along with a bunch of other global oil companies.. these are the lobbyists that are funding our politicians campaigns and pockets.

Do we think these wars are for oil yet?

hey maliki didnt have to grant those contracts at all .. the iraqi govt voted on it.. if you dont believe domestic drilling and refinerires are gonna bring down price your loosing it.. Futures bro ..also think of all the working class labor and skilled jobs were gonna create .. your party is hijacked by enviro -lunatics ..but theres alot of blue dog dems putting mad pressure on pelosi .. i dont see how the current system is ok with you considering your not a dummy lol ..and i know you know higher taxes on "windfal profits" ..its class rhetoric and we'll end up eating those taxes ..lol you think exxon will

[jameznyhc]

we dont have to socialize .. that would be seizing profit, setting price, etc.. we can enforce regualtions that are pro-american and benefit our country ..its the only way this will get done .. we have plenty of regulation favoring "other countries" already ..lets get some favoring us.. thats not socializing

[John Kennedy]

we dont have to socialize .. that would be seizing profit, setting price, etc.. we can enforce regualtions that are pro-american and benefit our country ..its the only way this will get done .. we have plenty of regulation favoring "other countries" already ..lets get some favoring us.. thats not socializing

thank you.. and when they include those regulations in an energy bill, they can include offshore drilling too

Obama is giving the wrong argument and he's sounding dumb on this issue.. blindly supporting the windfall taxes.. and enacting taxes that kick in when oil goes over 80 bucks a gallon.. its as short sighted as the blind drillers (Mccain)... but thats what campaigning is about unfortunately.. quick fixes, easy soundbites, no real solutions.

[John Kennedy]

hey maliki didnt have to grant those contracts at all .. the iraqi govt voted on it.. if you dont believe domestic drilling and refinerires are gonna bring down price your loosing it.. Futures bro ..also think of all the working class labor and skilled jobs were gonna create .. your party is hijacked by enviro -lunatics ..but theres alot of blue dog dems putting mad pressure on pelosi .. i dont see how the current system is ok with you considering your not a dummy lol ..and i know you know higher taxes on "windfal profits" ..its class rhetoric and we'll end up eating those taxes ..lol you think exxon will

of course they would vote on it.. and they should. It's jobs, it's prosperity for their country. So should Exxon go in there and make their money.. they are a business and it's what they should be doing. But the point is they shouldn't be dictating our U.S. policy, and they are. That's the problem.

[jameznyhc]

thank you.. and when they include those regulations in an energy bill, they can include offshore drilling too

Obama is giving the wrong argument and he's sounding dumb on this issue.. blindly supporting the windfall taxes.. and enacting taxes that kick in when oil goes over 80 bucks a gallon.. its as short sighted as the blind drillers (Mccain)... but thats what campaigning is about unfortunately.. quick fixes, easy soundbites, no real solutions.

special interests ruin everything ..

[Defekted]

drill drill drill



you are like a fucking parrot man. Drill Drill Drilll, ahrrrrh, Drill

you constipated? drill
you failing out of school? drill
you cant get it up? drill

You like it simple. Keep it at bumper sticker solutions at all times, otherwise it seems to "aloof" and "unpractical"

too bad the facts get in the way.... drilling will do NOTHING to gas prices. The oil wont come out till 7 or 10 years from now..... and by then china and india demands will ensure that gas prices stay high.......the economic numbers say that drilling in this country will result in "cents" not "dollars" in savings.....

this is purely political....this is gas holidays, this is nonesense..... again, bumper sticker stuff....

my take: it might work.... this country has ALOT of people that love 4 letter words repeated over and over, makes things easy.

[Benny B]

you are like a fucking parrot man. Drill Drill Drilll, ahrrrrh, Drill

you constipated? drill
you failing out of school? drill
you cant get it up? drill

You like it simple. Keep it at bumper sticker solutions at all times, otherwise it seems to "aloof" and "unpractical"

too bad the facts get in the way.... drilling will do NOTHING to gas prices. The oil wont come out till 7 or 10 years from now..... and by then china and india demands will ensure that gas prices stay high.......the economic numbers say that drilling in this country will result in "cents" not "dollars" in savings.....

this is purely political....this is gas holidays, this is nonesense..... again, bumper sticker stuff....

my take: it might work.... this country has ALOT of people that love 4 letter words repeated over and over, makes things easy.

like ive said before... i dont think "price" is the issue. The biggest issue that we have with oil is the national security threat we have. would you oppose drilling here offshore / anwr etc if they said.. we need to do this because of the national security threat we face??? you cant argue that we need to reduce our foreign dependence on oil.. i wont argue we need to come up with alternatives etc. yet at the same time we are working on new sources we also need to reduce the threat we have because of how much we import. what happens if israel strikes against iran and iran shuts down the straight where i think its like 70-80% of oil comes through??? and prices go to 300 / barrel??? you gonna sit there saying shit guess we should have drilled our own oil???? why not do it now????

[Benny B]

and btw.. your 7-10 years.. i dont agree with at all.. and even if thats the case.. would you rather be 7-10 years from now.. or 7-10 years from tomorrrow???

[Defekted]

like ive said before... i dont think "price" is the issue. The biggest issue that we have with oil is the national security threat we have. would you oppose drilling here offshore / anwr etc if they said.. we need to do this because of the national security threat we face??? you cant argue that we need to reduce our foreign dependence on oil.. i wont argue we need to come up with alternatives etc. yet at the same time we are working on new sources we also need to reduce the threat we have because of how much we import. what happens if israel strikes against iran and iran shuts down the straight where i think its like 70-80% of oil comes through??? and prices go to 300 / barrel??? you gonna sit there saying shit guess we should have drilled our own oil???? why not do it now????

We are still going to need to import oil from the same exact places. There is no shot we can be energy independent from drilling. It will be a drop in the bucket. we arent conserving as a nation, our appetite grows and grows, we are about 4% of the worlds population but take 25% of the oil, and thats growing, plus china and india and the world by in large...... all going in the same direction...... we are missing the ball....

Id rather focus completely on alternative fuels and make it happen cause it can happen, we have dont things far more science fiction than that, so i have no doubts.

Id rather have that than these ugly fucking drills off all our shores destroying our beach views and having the possibility of spills like in Cali 30 years ago...... Have you ever swam in the pacific and saw those things out there? i mean its hideous.... and thats just the cosmetic aspect of this arguement...... on top of the fact its just not a solution....

so i think we should focus on alternative energy, which could possibly be the next boom industry like the Information Technology boom of the last 30 years which has generated trillions and countless of jobs. Lets be that leader. Fuck drilling for peanuts. Lets get this done right now, not tomorrow as you say.

[Benny B]

We are still going to need to import oil from the same exact places. There is no shot we can be energy independent from drilling. It will be a drop in the bucket. we arent conserving as a nation, our appetite grows and grows, we are about 4% of the worlds population but take 25% of the oil, and thats growing, plus china and india and the world by in large...... all going in the same direction...... we are missing the ball....

Id rather focus completely on alternative fuels and make it happen cause it can happen, we have dont things far more science fiction than that, so i have no doubts.

Id rather have that than these ugly fucking drills off all our shores destroying our beach views and having the possibility of spills like in Cali 30 years ago...... Have you ever swam in the pacific and saw those things out there? i mean its hideous.... and thats just the cosmetic aspect of this arguement...... on top of the fact its just not a solution....

so i think we should focus on alternative energy, which could possibly be the next boom industry like the Information Technology boom of the last 30 years which has generated trillions and countless of jobs. Lets be that leader. Fuck drilling for peanuts. Lets get this done right now, not tomorrow as you say.


first off.. in the same sentence when you say.. if they start drilling today we wont see the oil for 7-10 years.. just as the same goes if a new alternative source is found today... you still have to build it from the ground up.. you arent just gonna flip a magic switch and all of a sudden everyone is magically on the new source.. its going to take time to build infrastructure converting old to new.. and whatever else is going to take place... these things arent going to happen overnight.. even though i know how you live in that happy fairytail land obama has you living in.... you cant deny the biggest issue of all is the national security threat... yes we will NEVER be independent of foreign oil.. but that doesnt mean you dont try to reduce your dependence as much as possible to lower the security risk..you have to look long term yes.. but you cant leave ourselves at this high risk while we are trying to come up with a new resource

[Defekted]

first off.. in the same sentence when you say.. if they start drilling today we wont see the oil for 7-10 years.. just as the same goes if a new alternative source is found today... you still have to build it from the ground up.. you arent just gonna flip a magic switch and all of a sudden everyone is magically on the new source.. its going to take time to build infrastructure converting old to new.. and whatever else is going to take place... these things arent going to happen overnight.. even though i know how you live in that happy fairytail land obama has you living in.... you cant deny the biggest issue of all is the national security threat... yes we will NEVER be independent of foreign oil.. but that doesnt mean you dont try to reduce your dependence as much as possible to lower the security risk..you have to look long term yes.. but you cant leave ourselves at this high risk while we are trying to come up with a new resource

My point is drilling here will be a drop in the bucket. Its being pushed so hard right now by the Reps. because its a gift of a political issue that is a red herring. It gives no real realized benefit. It doesn not improve our national security BECAUSE it will not eliminate our need to import from hostile regions. So where is the meat on this? It isnt there.

Yes the other methods will take time, but the second we got it, we got it, nah wha im sayin brah? We find a way to use wind, sun, food, crayons, whatever and we could REALLY say peace out to SA IRAN VENEZUALA RUSSIA NIGERIA etc etc etc etc....... not only can we say peace out, but we will have a monopoly on the next biggest industry to come our way since IT. We need to stop thinking about the energy sources of yesterday and how to get more of it, here or there, and start thinking about the energy sources of tomorrow. T Boone Pickens, of all people, the right wing rep who funded the swift boats and made his billion dollar fortune on oil is saying that this is bullshit. We cant drill our way out of this one. This goes along with what every serious analyst/expert is saying.........

this is a poltical bumper sticker slogan "drill drill drill" and its about the only thing McCain has been using that DOENST have Obama as a focus. kudos to that.

[Benny B]

My point is drilling here will be a drop in the bucket. Its being pushed so hard right now by the Reps. because its a gift of a political issue that is a red herring. It gives no real realized benefit. It doesn not improve our national security BECAUSE it will not eliminate our need to import from hostile regions. So where is the meat on this? It isnt there.

Yes the other methods will take time, but the second we got it, we got it, nah wha im sayin brah? We find a way to use wind, sun, food, crayons, whatever and we could REALLY say peace out to SA IRAN VENEZUALA RUSSIA NIGERIA etc etc etc etc....... not only can we say peace out, but we will have a monopoly on the next biggest industry to come our way since IT. We need to stop thinking about the energy sources of yesterday and how to get more of it, here or there, and start thinking about the energy sources of tomorrow. T Boone Pickens, of all people, the right wing rep who funded the swift boats and made his billion dollar fortune on oil is saying that this is bullshit. We cant drill our way out of this one. This goes along with what every serious analyst/expert is saying.........

this is a poltical bumper sticker slogan "drill drill drill" and its about the only thing McCain has been using that DOENST have Obama as a focus. kudos to that.

im not arguing the fact that we need a new alternative source.. lol ... the point is.. even once we have that new source.. we arent going to have everythign just flip a switch overnight and be done with giving money to these countries... we will still be using oil in some sort and we might as well start drilling OUR oil to use.. just remember... everything that people are talking about right now for a new source.. is all driven towards AUTOMOBILES!!! what about planes / ships / etc???? you think you just gonna load up a boing 777 with a bunch of batteries??? lmao you are living one dimensional and cant think outside the box.. you have to not only come up with a new source.. but you need to keep our lifeline alive when it comes to oil.. just because a new source is available doesnt mean we wont need oil

[marksf]

drill here. drill now

[big nutz]

i think the biggest problem this country faces is lies.....im not choosing sides but at the same time both candidates are Trying to get in office and they will say whatever makes the public happy. Shit is not going to be like 1995 Times change and Prices change with the times. If Obama becomes president i cant see much change. We have to face the fact that what is going on In america/ The world is much bigger then who becomes president. 1 Nation...1 currency.. global domination From Bush ties to Britain and Osoma Bin laden to Hitler they have all be connected. Look at the Bush Family and Look at Britians family they look similar dont they? HUH you two are fighting over oil and whether or not u pay a buck extra at the pump which i understand cuz at the end of the week it hurts ur pocket and everything else that goes with it. But you should worry about your life because media does give you the truth. When your worried about oil you should be worried about your Life

i predict a major attack to happen before the election mark my words

[metfan85]

and btw.. your 7-10 years.. i dont agree with at all.. and even if thats the case.. would you rather be 7-10 years from now.. or 7-10 years from tomorrrow???

bro some people get me so darn anrgy. when you have to get something done, you don't look at how it'll take, just do it man.

best time to do anything is yesterday and the second best time is today


btw there are many oil rigs where there was already exploration and can be up and running in 2 years.. dummies dummies everyone of you militant lets not drill now. you all live in places where you dont need your car to live. people outside of the cities and the suburbs the poor of this country need their car for everything... real compassionate ... you guys r clowns

and btw Benny price is a national security concern, if diesel gets to 10 dollars a gallon and no trucks are rolling.. thats a national security problem as well

[Benny B]

bro some people get me so darn anrgy. when you have to get something done, you don't look at how it'll take, just do it man.

best time to do anything is yesterday and the second best time is today


btw there are many oil rigs where there was already exploration and can be up and running in 2 years.. dummies dummies everyone of you militant lets not drill now. you all live in places where you dont need your car to live. people outside of the cities and the suburbs the poor of this country need their car for everything... real compassionate ... you guys r clowns

and btw Benny price is a national security concern, if diesel gets to 10 dollars a gallon and no trucks are rolling.. thats a national security problem as well

yup i agree.. as for the price beign a national security issue.. i agree.. however i think you control the one with the other.. if you drill domestically and keep the oil to ourselves and not just add to the world supply for opec i think it will at a minimum sustain current price.. and at most lower the price.. i had heard somewhere a couple months back saying that if we just announced drilling up in anwr that it would automatically drop the price of oil 10-15 a barrel or something like that.. just imagine once the oil started reaching the pumps??? makes ya wonder....

[metfan85]

yup i agree.. as for the price beign a national security issue.. i agree.. however i think you control the one with the other.. if you drill domestically and keep the oil to ourselves and not just add to the world supply for opec i think it will at a minimum sustain current price.. and at most lower the price.. i had heard somewhere a couple months back saying that if we just announced drilling up in anwr that it would automatically drop the price of oil 10-15 a barrel or something like that.. just imagine once the oil started reaching the pumps??? makes ya wonder....

of course, and everyones asking why would oil companies want the price to go lower, there making such great profits.

Well hello dummies, when oil companies were making an awful good profit at 25 dollars a barrel not as many people were crying for alternative energies. Now everyone wants alternative this alternative that... I cant believe people can sit their with a straight face and say oil companies wouldnt want the price of oil to go back down.

and the price drop is just like everyone said,speculators are driving up the price of oil. Well they can also drive down the price of oil.. I love the arguement oh but something will jsut make it go back up tomorrow. Well if the rpice dropped 10 bucks today and rose 15 bucks tomorrow its only 5 dollarsmore expensive that the first day instead of 25.. dummies, no wonder this country has so much debt they cant do math properly

[John Kennedy]

of course, and everyones asking why would oil companies want the price to go lower, there making such great profits.

Well hello dummies, when oil companies were making an awful good profit at 25 dollars a barrel not as many people were crying for alternative energies. Now everyone wants alternative this alternative that... I cant believe people can sit their with a straight face and say oil companies wouldnt want the price of oil to go back down.

and the price drop is just like everyone said,speculators are driving up the price of oil. Well they can also drive down the price of oil.. I love the arguement oh but something will jsut make it go back up tomorrow. Well if the rpice dropped 10 bucks today and rose 15 bucks tomorrow its only 5 dollarsmore expensive that the first day instead of 25.. dummies, no wonder this country has so much debt they cant do math properly

you're nuts if you think oil is competing with alternate energy, which basically doesn't even exist right now.. when alternate energy becomes economical and profitable, Exxon will be there to serve it to you. For now, oil is not going anywhere for a long long time, especially outside of the US. It's not just about cars, it's about plastic, the airline industry, the military, computer monitors, rubber bands, cosmetics, chemicals, drugs, everything. Just because people are driving Priuses and complaining about prices doesn't mean shit.. oil is not going anywhere for a long long time and Exxon knows this.. especially since tax incentives to alt energy startups are still getting blocked by this government. Oil is more economical than ever for the oil companies, so they want as much land as possible, now more than ever. If oil was 20 a barrel Exxon would not be asking for more places to drill. They sell it all to the world market, what is so hard to get about that? Drilling all of our shores and shale will not turn us into a net exporter, and won't stop us from importing.. so our situation will not change. We'll still be susceptible to world prices. If oil drops, Exxon will not drill, even if they open up access offshore. The land will sit there, unexplored, just like 80% of their explorable land does now, because it's not worth it. Slowly it's becoming more and more worth it, and Exxon wants to have that option when it is. That's all this is about, just being sold to Americans now because of the prices at the pump. Allowing global oil companies to drill off of our shores is the same as outsourcing our energy, unless we socialize it. That's it.. that's the only option where we will have control of our own energy. Everything else is just an illusion and you're being duped by our politicians. You're nuts if you think this government will do anything to offend big oil and help the consumer side of this equation, OR our national security.

[metfan85]

yeah except theres not only one company, exxon does not drill for everyone. if theres money to be made, there wil be someone to retrieve that oil. Thats why in South Dakota there is a small company willing to extract shale oil. Thats why the Georgia state legislature is set to vote on offshore drilling. If there are profits to be made, there will always be someone to make those profits. I'm really curious if you all know that Exxon/Mobil is not the only oil company in the world?

You say that oil is here to stay for the medium to long term, 10-50 years. Implying that alternative energy will not be available for the public in 7 - 10 years, the amount of years you all who are against drilling is saying it will take to get the oil into the market. So 7-10 years from now we will have oil on the market making a difference in price, and this is totally forgetting about the speculators.
Thanks for making my case that we should drill now.

and why would you want to socialize oil? Make off shore drilling available to American oil companies and allies oil companies, Dutch Shell etc

[John Kennedy]

yeah except theres not only one company, exxon does not drill for everyone. if theres money to be made, there wil be someone to retrieve that oil. Thats why in South Dakota there is a small company willing to extract shale oil. Thats why the Georgia state legislature is set to vote on offshore drilling. If there are profits to be made, there will always be someone to make those profits. I'm really curious if you all know that Exxon/Mobil is not the only oil company in the world?

You say that oil is here to stay for the medium to long term, 10-50 years. Implying that alternative energy will not be available for the public in 7 - 10 years, the amount of years you all who are against drilling is saying it will take to get the oil into the market. So 7-10 years from now we will have oil on the market making a difference in price, and this is totally forgetting about the speculators.
Thanks for making my case that we should drill now.

and why would you want to socialize oil? Make off shore drilling available to American oil companies and allies oil companies, Dutch Shell etc

When I say Exxon, I mean big oil, the majors. Exxon/Mobile, Shell, BP.. all INTERNATIONAL companies, not American. These are the companies that will get the contracts to drill. Who else? Show me the company that is willing to extract from shale and tell me that you think they will get the contracts once the fields open up.. show me where they drill now. There are lots of companies willing, but few do. The big companies are "the most capable", so they get the no bid contracts.

My issue isn't with how long it would take, my issue is we'll be whoring out more of our land for international consumption. Please tell me why any company in their right mind would sell oil/gas to US consumers for a lower price when they can sell it to India and China for double the price?

[metfan85]

you realize the large MNC's arent the only companies selling oil? If the MNC's do not want to sell then someone else will, its that simple

[John Kennedy]

you realize the large MNC's arent the only companies selling oil? If the MNC's do not want to sell then someone else will, its that simple

Why wouldn't they want to?

[metfan85]

Why wouldn't they want to?

im not sure what your asking.
my point is, like all oligopoly's, as long as their is ease of entry into the oil industry, there will be someone to fill in the void if the established oil companies do not want to drill.
Happens with every industry, the invisible hand is a beautiful thing.

[John Kennedy]

im not sure what your asking.
my point is, like all oligopoly's, as long as their is ease of entry into the oil industry, there will be someone to fill in the void if the established oil companies do not want to drill.
Happens with every industry, the invisible hand is a beautiful thing.

Meaning they will drill off our shores, as long as the price is high enough for it to be economical and they can sell the barrel to anywhere in the world for the right price. If it's not worth it to them, you better believe it won't be worth it to a smaller company without the resources of an Exxon or BP. The ease of entry ISN'T there. Me or you can't wake up tomorrow and decide we want to drill off the coast. Even if we did, if the oil is going for a higher price somewhere in the world, even OPEC, you bet my oil will be sold to them and not here at home. Unless there is a law against it or an economical incentive to keep it here at home.

[metfan85]

Meaning they will drill off our shores, as long as the price is high enough for it to be economical and they can sell the barrel to anywhere in the world for the right price. If it's not worth it to them, you better believe it won't be worth it to a smaller company without the resources of an Exxon or BP. The ease of entry ISN'T there. Me or you can't wake up tomorrow and decide we want to drill off the coast. Even if we did, if the oil is going for a higher price somewhere in the world, even OPEC, you bet my oil will be sold to them and not here at home. Unless there is a law against it or an economical incentive to keep it here at home.

ease of entry doesnt mean me or you can get in the market. gov't red tape makes entry into the market difficult, the point of lifting these bans is to make entry easier.
I think your mistaken about how "Big Oil" get their oil, they take delivery of the oil, from smaller companies that do the drilling, they do some of their own exploration and drilling but not nearly as much as you all think.
Had all the government red tape not been there the last 30 years there would be a heck of a lot more oil on the market right now

[John Kennedy]

ease of entry doesnt mean me or you can get in the market. gov't red tape makes entry into the market difficult, the point of lifting these bans is to make entry easier.
I think your mistaken about how "Big Oil" get their oil, they take delivery of the oil, from smaller companies that do the drilling, they do some of their own exploration and drilling but not nearly as much as you all think.
Had all the government red tape not been there the last 30 years there would be a heck of a lot more oil on the market right now

Yes it does mean me or you can't get in the market. Who are startups run by then? Why was Exxon, BP and Shell the first companies let back into Iraq? Because they can drill the safest, quickest, most efficiently, and turn a profit because of their scale. All of the big oil companies explore, even if they contract to smaller companies, those smaller companies don't survive without the big parent company funding them.. that means nothing. They turn into subsidiaries.

Whenever a market opens up they are the best suited to enter the market immediately so they are the ones given the permit to do so, mostly for environmental/safety concerns and rightfully so. You support opening it up like the wild west to whoever can figure out how to get a drill into the ground and turn some sort of profit? You actually think anyone will be for that? Like it or not we live in a mixed economy, not an open market, and we always will.. our government will always have a hand in making sure business runs in the right direction, not always perfectly, but the government hand in business is something that is well supported by every party in the government, I don't care how conservative those commercials tell you they are. That's why we're the most stable and successful economy in this world, because the government regulates business. If it wasn't like this, we'd be living the way people in the mid-east live, and people would be coming over to us and starting wars for our resources, because it's a free for all and they can. We are definitely headed in that direction, but thank God for term limits.

Answer me this, why is Exxon sitting on land that was opened to them for decades and not drilling and exploring it all? Why don't they just give it up to a smaller company like you say they would, and let them take care of the less profitable exploration? That's not how the business world works my friend.

But this is all besides the point.. there is a way that drilling can work for us.. blindly opening it up is not the way though. It has to come with some sort of legislature that patriates energy. You agree that it is a national security issue, then why would you think that the market will protect us?

[metfan85]

dude I dont know what your reading, but Ive never said no regulations Wild West drilling. I said no off shore drilling ban. Ive said close the free markets down. companies want to drill off our shores then put tariffs on exports of that product.
I dont ever remember saying wild west drilling :hmmm i think your argueing against what you think im saying

[John Kennedy]

dude I dont know what your reading, but Ive never said no regulations Wild West drilling. I said no off shore drilling ban. Ive said close the free markets down. companies want to drill off our shores then put tariffs on exports of that product.
I dont ever remember saying wild west drilling :hmmm i think your argueing against what you think im saying

You said red tape and regulation are what preventing ease of entry into the market, and if regulation was lifted, smaller companies would enter the market and drill for less profitable oil while the bigger companies go for the more profitable oil. That's what I disagree with.. not by principle, but I don't think it would happen in reality.

But in this post we seem to agree.. drilling would only work if there were regulations keeping it domestic... in this case I agree completely.

[metfan85]

You said red tape and regulation are what preventing ease of entry into the market, and if regulation was lifted, smaller companies would enter the market and drill for less profitable oil while the bigger companies go for the more profitable oil. That's what I disagree with.. not by principle, but I don't think it would happen in reality.

But in this post we seem to agree.. drilling would only work if there were regulations keeping it domestic... in this case I agree completely.

Yeah man I didn't say get rid of regulations. I want to lift the ban on offshore drilling, but I never said completely remove regulation.
Regulation is absolutely necessary. Overregulation is just as bad as no regulation.