Pay at the pump...

**SoCuffMe** · 01-27-2006, 11:59 AM

2005 4th quarter earnings being reported for all the oil companies. Expect to see alot of this:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/27/D8FD44QG0.html

"...Chevron Corp.'s fourth-quarter profit climbed 20 percent to $4.14 billion, a company record that continued the most prosperous stretch in the oil company's 126-year history as it capitalizes on high fuel prices that are squeezing consumers and ruffling politicians.

Its profit of $14.1 billion for the full year was also a company record...."

**Chmie** · 01-27-2006, 12:54 PM

I think the reality is that oil company profits and the price of gas will continue to rise.

**DawsonMagnum** · 01-27-2006, 01:02 PM

One thing you can bet you WON'T see in any of the press articles is that their profit MARGINS are abou the same or, in some cases, lower than before.

Not that I like to see oil companies making record amounts of money while millions are struggling to pay for their gasoline, but there is a HUGE and unwieldy economic mechanism in place here, rife with formulas and calculations that are all but carved in stone.

The oil companies *could* have gone to some effort to change all this and propogate it down the pipeline to the consumer, but it would have taken time and, as volatile as the prices have historically been, there was no guarantee that the price of oil wouldn't have dropped back enough to make it so that their profits would drop to a break-even point. At that point the shareholders revolt and fire the magagement teams at these oil corps. As with any public company, your primary fiduciary duty is to your shareholders, NOT your customers.

Not saying I like the way things are panning out, but I wish those writing the stories would be more diligent in pointint out how capitalism works instead of leaving everyone to think that oil companies are greedy and evil.

**BrilliantBlackHemi** · 01-27-2006, 05:33 PM

Wait, you are saying that they are not greedy and evil? What is the world coming too when you can't count on a big oil company to be evil. Dang it, when did they change the rules.

Originally Posted by DawsonMagnum

One thing you can bet you WON'T see in any of the press articles is that their profit MARGINS are abou the same or, in some cases, lower than before.

Not that I like to see oil companies making record amounts of money while millions are struggling to pay for their gasoline, but there is a HUGE and unwieldy economic mechanism in place here, rife with formulas and calculations that are all but carved in stone.

The oil companies *could* have gone to some effort to change all this and propogate it down the pipeline to the consumer, but it would have taken time and, as volatile as the prices have historically been, there was no guarantee that the price of oil wouldn't have dropped back enough to make it so that their profits would drop to a break-even point. At that point the shareholders revolt and fire the magagement teams at these oil corps. As with any public company, your primary fiduciary duty is to your shareholders, NOT your customers.

Not saying I like the way things are panning out, but I wish those writing the stories would be more diligent in pointint out how capitalism works instead of leaving everyone to think that oil companies are greedy and evil.

**saluki450** · 01-27-2006, 06:57 PM

If the oil companies are so concerned with the truth why do they refuse to attend Congressional hearings where the top brass at the companies have to be sworn in?

Dan

**bipto** · 01-27-2006, 08:12 PM

Don't tell me you guys didn't have any $$ invested in big oil this year...

**DawsonMagnum** · 01-27-2006, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by saluki450

If the oil companies are so concerned with the truth why do they refuse to attend Congressional hearings where the top brass at the companies have to be sworn in?

Because they smelled out that it was a witch hunt and they were going to be made to look bad no matter what?

The politicians involved are just as bad and probably worse than the oil executives...but that is a discussion for another time...and another place since we don't do politics here.

**ZMagnum** · 01-27-2006, 09:13 PM

Pump now pay later.

**gn300** · 01-27-2006, 09:50 PM

in reality its the same with the bank profits

**done** · 01-28-2006, 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by bipto

Don't tell me you guys didn't have any $$ invested in big oil this year...

Works for me.

**Dodger** · 01-28-2006, 01:27 AM

Oil companies are good at two thing sucking black stuff from the ground and green stuff from our pockets.

**cadzilla74** · 01-28-2006, 08:54 AM

I'm with Dodger, they really suck.

**Trouble** · 01-28-2006, 12:41 PM

Everything said is true and sorta not. Of course we all are supposed to blame the free market which we all (theoretically) love or even better, use the anti-Arab climate to blame OPEC. I am quite convinced that this giant price paradigm shift has been in the works for years and years, being tweaked to maximize results for those involved. I also think that the powerful players got more than they bargained for when the propaganda didn't work as well as hoped and government went in pretending to investigate on behalf of their constituents. It's all a carefully crafted dance. It's pretty obvious that The US is not a capitalist society any more. It is a CORPORATIST society and we citizens are a necessary nuisance to support the corporations. Yeah yeah say I wear a tinfoil hat and am paranoid or whatever. Helter skelter is comin' baby!
-Trouble

**done** · 01-28-2006, 02:31 PM

Not that this will change anybody's perception, but:

The U.S. oil and gas industry has recently cited data showing it makes about $8 per $100 in sales _ well below banking, pharmaceutical and high-tech companies, which all make an average of at least $15 per $100 in sales. Chevron and other oil companies also are emphasizing that they plan to spend substantially more during 2006 on the exploration for more oil _ a search that ultimately could increase supplies and reduce the pressure to raise energy prices even further.