OPEC may well decrease output to support $100/barrel.

So they ARE money grubbing bastards, just like everyone has suspected (known).

OPEC? Oh h3ll yes they are.

we have enough here at home to last till rapture. but?????

if the terrorist don't blow it all first

Hey, that sounds like my ex-wife. She never did become refined and usable.

I don't see your point. What difference does the amount of time it takes to make it a usable product have to do with the discussion? Corn takes about 100 days from planting to harvest, is that not a comparable time frame?

Secondly. The oil companies are recording record profits. If their margin is so low, you are going to have to back that claim up.

Happy to:

The average net profit margin for the S&P Energy sector, according to figures from Thomson Baseline, is 9.7%. The average for the S&P 500 is 8.5%. So yes, energy companies are more profitable than many others...but not by an inordinate amount.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/29/mark...buzz/index.htm

Looks to me like they have pretty significant profits Donger.

1. Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil
• See more Fortune 500 data for Exxon Mobil
Fortune 500 rank: 2
2007 profit: $40.61 billion

Fortune 500 rank #2. DO you see that? #2. $40.6 Billion in one year because they are greedily gouging the American people.

I didn't say that there profits aren't large. I said that their profit margins are in line with other industries.

And they are.

So you think semantics makes it okay? I don't care what their profit margin is. $40.6 billion is excessive.

It is the highest-ever annual profit from a U.S. company, a record Exxon also set in 2006 and 2005.

Wow.

Look at these numbers

$ millions % change from 2006
Revenues 372,824.0 7.4
Profits 40,610.0 2.8
Assets 242,082.0 —
Stockholders' equity 121,762.0 —
Market value (3/28/2008) 455,929.3 —
Profits as % of
Revenues 10.9
Assets 16.8
Stockholders' equity 33.4
Earnings per share
2007 $ 7.28
% change from 2006 10.0
1997-2007 annual growth rate % 15.8
Total return to investors %
2007 24.3
1997-2007 annual rate 14.3
Industry: Petroleum Refining
Rank Company 500
rank Revenues
($ millions)
1 Exxon Mobil 2 372,824.0
2 Chevron 3 210,783.0
3 ConocoPhillips 5 178,558.

Well, they certainly don't care that fuel costs are affecting other companies profit margins...so what's the problem with him saying that?