I'm really happy that gas is about $3/gal now; $60 to fill up my gas tank, and it's really convenient spending over $40 to go to St. Louis and back (15 mpg). Time to buy a bike.

it's only gonna get worse

thanks george bush!

I read something somewhere (real specific, I know) that the reason that gas prices are so high now is that Katrina gave oil companies a reason to dramatically raise gas prices legitimately. Following the shortage though, they didn't adjust the price based on the increased supply, so we're still paying as if there were a big shortage of refined oil (gas) in the US.

But the prices did get down to the 1.80's or so a while back so I dunno.

If you think oil companies are living on the high hog, you should buy stock in them. I'll tell you now, though, you'll be in for a rougher ride than you think.

A fair amount of this increase is due to gas companies having to shift to summer blend fuel, which is harder to make. So you would be more accurate in blaming the government for passing the law making it more expensive for you.

I must protest, it seems that its a great time to be an oil company

The mid-late 90's were a terrible time to be an oil company (a time when just about everything else was booming). I remember paying $.80/gal one time when I filled up in 1999. I don't remember anybody complaining back then.

That list suggested to me that it's far better to be a bank/investment firm right now. 7 of the 20 companies listed were banking/investment firms, compared to 3 oil companies out of the 20.

Wow, I never get tired of hearing this. He is on powerful fucker, he gets blamed for everything from hurricanes to high gas prices...

That's only revenue, not profit. Look at 7 (Ford). They lost money and they're still on the list because they handle a bunch of money. What kinds of companies handle the most amount of money? Investment firms. It doesn't mean they keep it all. It just means they process it.

I don't blame him on natural disasters. It's how he handles them. Shit happens, I understand that.

But it's his fault that our soldiers are fighting and dieing for a war that isn't ours. Don't get me wrong. I support our troops. They are doing their job. But I don't think they should be there.

Yet if you normalize that to the overall revenues, you get something completely different: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/ ... index.html

The top 10 has only a couple oil companies, hell, the top 50 only has 5-6.

Compare honestly, or STFU.

The link I pointed to was the top 20 most *profitable* companies, as in having the most profit.


My financial knowledge is still in its infancy, but that ranks based on profits as a percentage as revenue - which would tend to highlight up-and-coming growth type companies, Google and Microsoft ranking high on that list. Oil companies have been around forever and oil is huge, thus their markets are mature and grow more slowly. But I think the point is that now, as I understand, oil companies are making more money than ever.

Except perhaps in the 1920s. People hated big oil then, ten times more bitterly than we do now. That was a young market back then--not completely new though--but growing rapidly with the advent of the personal vehicle that anybody could afford. Standard Oil had its hands in a whole lot of money back then too.

Clearly, profit is evil. I would never want to start a very profitable company.

But giant, successful, world-wide companies will always make huge profits; they also have huge incomes and huge expenditures. Just like you getting a million dollars means a lot more than the US government getting a million dollars, the fact that an oil company made $39.5B means nothing without context.

The reason profits are compared to revenue (as opposed to some other normalizing index) is that it is the most concrete number. To compare companies of vastly different sizes, you have to normalize them to some standard, this is the best one.

The fact that oil companies are making more money than ever is also no surprise. Have you looked at China's growth in the last few years? Have you been paying attention to Iran? Combine a very solid current (and future) demand with a somewhat unstable supply and prices rise. As much as we may like to think we have the power to adjust the market, our country is only one of many fighting for a finite resource. Also, oil profits should rise ~2-3% every year, just for inflation.

Sorry, for some reason I was looking at the revenue list.



I agree. I hate oil companies as much as the next guy but I never whine about it. I am not entitled to oil at a certain price and that's why I don't use a whole lot of it. Companies are there to make money, not to give you discounted oil. Instead of whining about prices, start an oil company and get in on the action. I do have a problem whenever an oil company, or any company, stifles their competition by getting congress to pass laws favorable to them or buying patents for alternative fuel only to bury them in a drawer.

EDIT: Grammar