Gallons of gas sold is only a part of such a company's profit picture. Profits are generated from other areas as well, including investments and refining. Almost 1/4 of their profits came from refining. For example, when they bought or contracted for crude @ $40.00 per barrel, and the price jumped to $60.00 per barrel, they did quite well. However, Exxon/Mobile did not control the price of crude - they just benefited from it.
According to a report I heard Wednesday or Thursday, the percentage of profit made by Exxon/Mobile was about 7%, similar to the profit percentages of many other businesses. While I'm not being an apologist for the oil companies, their return on investment and profits - from a percentage standpoint - doesn't seem excessive. Actually, there are many companies in many other fields that generate larger profits in terms of percentage. Shel > [Original Message] > From: William Robb > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Shel Belinkoff" > > > > Billion PLUS!? > > > > This past quarter Exxon/Mobile had profits of more than 8-billion, and the > > last quarter of 2005 their profits were more than 10-billion (that's > > American dollars, boys, and a lot of 'em) > > How many gallons of gas did they sell? > > William Robb >
