Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Oily Corporafornication


The second quarter saw big oil companies making money tank over barrel. ConocoPhillips made $5 billion, Shell $7 billion, and BP netted $10 billion. Only BP had a record quarter. Shell's profit is $1 billion higher than last year, while Conoco's is up 41%, $1.5 billion higher.

Chevron and ExxonMobil report later this week. Forbes reported:


Like ConocoPhillips, most are expected to post huge profits, given the unprecedented cost of oil.

What are they doing with that money?


In 1993, the five biggest publicly traded oil companies -- Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips -- spent 39% of their operating cash flow on development projects, 14% on exploration and only 1% on buying back their own stock. In 2007, they spent 34% on development, 6% on exploration and 34% on stock buybacks, according to a study.

Unprecedented profits are yet another unprecedented disaster for the average citizen. Haven't we had enough of those under President Bush? Bush's endless Corporafornication leaves an oily residue. McCain's corporate tax cut for big oil is even sleazier.