For those who claim these high gas prices are justified by bashing the EPA and moaning about refining capacity:
"May, 2004-
The first quarter profits for the big oil companies were recently released. What a shock - the refining and marketing profits of the big four oil companies have increased by a staggering amount over one year ago!
BP – up 165%
Chevron-Texaco - up 294%
Conoco-Phillips - up 44%
ExxonMobil - up 125%"
Consumer's Union October '04 - " U.S. oil companies' profits for the first nine months of this year have increased by more than 35 percent over last year, with the bulk of those profits coming from charges for domestic oil and gas refining, not from higher crude oil prices, consumer groups say.
Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union say the record profits, coupled with the Department of Energy's latest report that heating oil prices have hit a new record --$2.06 per gallon --are a clear indication that oil companies are profiting at the expense of American consumers.
"After analyzing the most recent quarterly statements of the domestic U.S. oil industry, it is not only clear that profits have climbed to record levels, but that the major source of those profit increases is the jump in domestic refining and marketing margins," said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. "Well over half of that increase in profits has come not from crude oil, but from profits on domestic U.S. refining and marketing."
ABC News April '05 – "As American consumers increasingly feel the pinch at the pump, oil companies have watched their profits soar.
The newest numbers from the second quarter of this year show Exxon Mobil with a 32 percent increase in earnings over this time last year — that's more than $7.6 billion.
BP saw a profit increase of 38 percent, totaling $6.7 billion, while Conoco Phillips — the third largest oil company in the country — recorded a 56 percent increase in profit, more than $3 billion.
"The huge profits are enormous because the public is drastically overpaying what it costs to produce," said Joan Claybrook, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Many of these companies long ago bought oil reserves at prices of $10 to $25 a barrel. With prices peaking near the $67 mark, the profit margin has been enormous.
Even more eye-opening is the profit in Saudi Arabia. Saudis are making an average of $208 million more each day since the increase in crude oil prices first began in December 2003."
We're being gouged at the pump, people, and don't let anyone tell you differently. The proof is in the profits as reported by the oil companies, themselves.
"May, 2004-
The first quarter profits for the big oil companies were recently released. What a shock - the refining and marketing profits of the big four oil companies have increased by a staggering amount over one year ago!
BP – up 165%
Chevron-Texaco - up 294%
Conoco-Phillips - up 44%
ExxonMobil - up 125%"
Consumer's Union October '04 - " U.S. oil companies' profits for the first nine months of this year have increased by more than 35 percent over last year, with the bulk of those profits coming from charges for domestic oil and gas refining, not from higher crude oil prices, consumer groups say.
Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union say the record profits, coupled with the Department of Energy's latest report that heating oil prices have hit a new record --$2.06 per gallon --are a clear indication that oil companies are profiting at the expense of American consumers.
"After analyzing the most recent quarterly statements of the domestic U.S. oil industry, it is not only clear that profits have climbed to record levels, but that the major source of those profit increases is the jump in domestic refining and marketing margins," said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. "Well over half of that increase in profits has come not from crude oil, but from profits on domestic U.S. refining and marketing."
ABC News April '05 – "As American consumers increasingly feel the pinch at the pump, oil companies have watched their profits soar.
The newest numbers from the second quarter of this year show Exxon Mobil with a 32 percent increase in earnings over this time last year — that's more than $7.6 billion.
BP saw a profit increase of 38 percent, totaling $6.7 billion, while Conoco Phillips — the third largest oil company in the country — recorded a 56 percent increase in profit, more than $3 billion.
"The huge profits are enormous because the public is drastically overpaying what it costs to produce," said Joan Claybrook, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Many of these companies long ago bought oil reserves at prices of $10 to $25 a barrel. With prices peaking near the $67 mark, the profit margin has been enormous.
Even more eye-opening is the profit in Saudi Arabia. Saudis are making an average of $208 million more each day since the increase in crude oil prices first began in December 2003."
We're being gouged at the pump, people, and don't let anyone tell you differently. The proof is in the profits as reported by the oil companies, themselves.