Oil is publicly traded commodity. Investors know that if there is another major terrorist attack, or if we invade Iran, or if there is unrest in the Middle East, or anything that could make investors nervous the price of Oil will remain high. So, as long as there is uncertainty in the Middle East the Oil companies continue to make record profits. If current oil production was the same as it is right now but the Middle East was stable the price of oil would fall. So,is it in the Oil companies’ interest to have this since "uncertainty"? YES. They make billions of dollars just based on fear. Did many in this administration come from the Energy industry? Yes. Makes you wonder.
FACT: Canada is actually the largest single importer of oil into America. Canda's oil sands deposits and traditional oil reserves have direct pipelines into the Mid-West, Rockies and the west coast making if far cheaper to transport. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- my co workers were saying the same thing about canada having oil sand or sand oil but it would co$t a lot more to refine them..????
Well oil raced to above $75 a barrel today on fears from among other things North Korea. Now why in the hell would that raise prices?
Don't worry, guys. Jesse Jackson led a protest rally at the BP refinery in Texas City yesterday (well, before it started raining and all the protesters dispersed...). He'll have your gasoline prices falling in no time.
Are you resticting this comment to the price of oil...this thread in general...the forum...of life in general?
OK, 25% of $75 is about $20. So if all this stuff listed below calmed down would oil prices actually drop that much?
absolutely. i heard an analyst the other day say that there was no more room for fear in the price of oil...that it had been milked for all it's worth. i'm not an analyst, but i did stay at a holiday inn express last night. the big issues appears to be iran's nuclear crap. if they eventually take some money to chill the crap out, oil will drop. if wind sheer keeps up in the gulf of mexico, that would be a good thing too. if all these hurricane "experts" were wrong and we don't have anything remotely close to a 2005 again, prices should drop. when the summer months end, demand wanes...and the prices go down.
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20..._RTRIDST_0_NEWS-ENERGY-OPEC-PRESIDENT-DC.html Oil price spike "very uncomfortable": OPEC ABUJA (Reuters) - The latest spike in oil prices is "very uncomfortable" and it is having a negative impact on the world economy, OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said on Wednesday. Daukoru, who is also Nigeria's top oil official, told Reuters the Israel-Hizbollah conflict was responsible for the latest spike, which saw U.S. crude oil futures hit $78.40 a barrel last week, and that OPEC had plenty of spare production capacity should it be needed. "If it would have stabilized around the mid-60s, I don't think people would complain too much. We are getting used to that, but the latest shootup to the mid-70s and above is very uncomfortable," Daukoru said on the sidelines of a conference in the Nigerian capital. "Clearly the latest flare-up between Israel and Hizbollah that is really the reason for the latest spike," he said. "It is always unfortunate if we have to address issues outside the power of OPEC." High prices bring more revenue to OPEC in the short term, but exporters worry that sustained increases hurt the global economy and encourage consumers to invest in alternative energy. Asked if current prices were hurting the economy, he said: "At such high prices it must have an impact." Daukoru said he would travel to the Middle East Gulf next week to address some internal OPEC issues such as a forthcoming summit, and would take advantage of the trip to discuss the oil market situation. "We do our best to moderate the market, but with the current level of volatility one only can take short term decisions. We tend to react at three-monthly intervals," he said. Daukoru said OPEC had spare production capacity available if it was required. "We should have even more than 2 million barrels per day available, so whether the disruption comes as a result of Iran or some other cause, we will be able to put on the extra capacity provided there are refineries to take it," he said.
second highest net income ever by publicly traded us company DALLAS - Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $10.36 billion in the second quarter, the second largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. ADVERTISEMENT The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices helped boost the company's revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record. Exxon Mobil's report comes a day after another large U.S. oil company, ConocoPhillips, said it earned more than $5 billion in the quarter and at a time when many drivers in the U.S. are paying $3 for a gallon of gas — increasing the likelihood of further political backlash in Washington. Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company by market capitalization, said earnings amounted to $1.72 per share in the April-June quarter compared with a profit of $7.64 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year ago. The results topped Wall Street expectations but came in behind Exxon Mobil's record profit of $10.71 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2005. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $1.64 per share. Revenue rose to $99.03 billion from $88.57 billion in the prior-year quarter. That was short of Exxon Mobil's record third-quarter revenue of $100.72 billion — which also stands as record revenue generated by any U.S. public company ever in a single quarter. Its shares rose 85 cents to $67.45 in premarket trading. That would top its 52-week high of $67.18. Exxon Mobil said it spent $4.9 billion on capital and exploration projects during the quarter, up 8 percent from a year ago, while distributing $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Congress has been urging the big oil companies to put more of their profits toward boosting the supply of energy for consumers. By segment, exploration and production earnings rose sharply to $7.13 billion, up $2.23 billion from the second quarter of last year, a reflection of higher crude and natural gas prices. Production increased 6 percent from a year ago and 9 percent if the impact of divestments and entitlements are excluded. The company's refining and marketing segment reported a $264 million earnings increase to $2.48 billion, the result of stronger refining margins, slightly offset by weaker marketing margins. Exxon's chemical business saw earnings rise $26 million to $840 million
