Exxon Posts Another Record Profit

July 31, 2008 - The planet's largest oil company posted its second quarter earnings on Thursday, much to the delight of its shareholders and the disdain of American consumers. For the third straight quarter in a row, Exxon-Mobil posted the largest profit ever recorded in American financial history.

Much of the company's earnings, of course, was fueled by the lofty price of oil; the company made around $10 billion in oil sales during the period of April, May and June of this year. Despite spending more money on acquiring oil for gasoline production, the company was able to capitalize on the oil situation to further increase its already unprecedented income.

From their operating revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter, the oil giant posted a profit of $11.68 billion. That astronomical number works out to $89,133-about enough to buy a new Mercedes-Benz, including taxes-every minute, or about $5.3 million-the amount grossed by the opening of the film "Rent"-every hour. While some of this profit was reinvested back into the company's worldwide search for oil, $10.1 billion of it was returned to stockholders in the form of a $2.22 per share dividend.

While stockholders in the company may be squealing with excitement over these returns, public opinion of the oil company, commonly associated with retail gas and fuel, fell to new depths. Americans now, more than ever, feel victimized by high gas prices and the overall lagging economy. Although highly complex equations and advanced formulas are in place to equate the price of oil to the price per gallon paid at the gas pump, many consumers draw a direct correlation between the painful fuel prices and the company's continued-and increasing-profits.

On one Internet forum, an anonymous user from Newport News, Virginia wrote, "Who in the Hell reaps the benefits of high cost of gas and oil? Look at the profits this company made, [they're] obscene!" Another user, from Yorktown, Virginia and known by the screen name of Chief K, expounded on that thought by saying, "The pure economics of this smells to high heaven. Costs for both raw materials (oil) and refining go up, but Exxon still records record profits"

These sentiments were echoed around the Internet as Americans poured into their online resources to lament how the price of gas equates to unprecedented oil company profits. So many Americans took note, in fact, that presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama called the profits "outrageous" and called into question his rival's plan to cut oil company taxes. "Perhaps the only thing more outrageous than Exxon Mobil making record profits while Americans are paying record prices at the pump is the fact that Senator McCain has proposed giving them an additional $1.2 billion tax break ," Obama said from a town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Tax breaks, elections and energy-saving measures aside, Americans continue to express a feeling of helplessness in the face of high gas prices and record oil profits. Internet forum user Mark Jones of Denver, Colorado wrote in a blog, "Big oil is raping our pocketbooks." Although some users rushed to defend the oil giant, most simply sighed and agreed, reflecting the sentiments of the American public.