Record oil profits

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe

Originally Posted By: grampi

You believe oil company posted profits? Wow, talk about gullable...

ExxobMobil HAS to be truthful when posting financial information. Not just for the shareholders, but for the army of IRS agents infesting their headquarters: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/24/news/economy/corporate_tax_reform/?cnn=yes

Quote:

The Internal Revenue Service keeps 35 agents stationed full time at ExxonMobil's Houston headquarters, conducting a full-time audit of its books in office space provided by the company.

Just like Enron HAD to be truthful? I've got a bridge in San Fran I'll sell ya real cheap...The oil companies didn't become the most powerful entity in the world without learning how to sidestep a few auditors...

 

[LTVibe]

Government agencies, politicians, and consumer groups have been trying to dig up dirt on oil company finances for decades, and they keep coming up empty handed. It's the conspiracy theorists and political hacks who keep making unfounded accusations because they want you to think something criminal is going on. But if you need a scapegoat to blame for gas prices, then by all means continue to ignore the facts and blame 'Big Oil'.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:

The federal government keeps two sets of books. The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005. The set the government doesn't talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government's accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included — as the board that sets accounting rules is considering — the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion. Congress has written its own accounting rules — which would be illegal for a corporation to use because they ignore important costs such as the growing expense of retirement benefits for civil servants and military personnel. Last year, the audited statement produced by the accountants said the government ran a deficit equal to $6,700 for every American household. The number given to the public put the deficit at $2,800 per household.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-02-deficit-usat_x.htm Enron learned from the best.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe

Government agencies, politicians, and consumer groups have been trying to dig up dirt on oil company finances for decades, and they keep coming up empty handed. It's the conspiracy theorists and political hacks who keep making unfounded accusations because they want you to think something criminal is going on. But if you need a scapegoat to blame for gas prices, then by all means continue to ignore the facts and blame 'Big Oil'.

The so called "inquiries" the gov conducts on oil companies are a joke. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them? Their investigations are nothing more than an excuse for a luncheon date. You big oil cheerleaders crack me up...

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: grampi

The so called "inquiries" the gov conducts on oil companies are a joke. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them? Their investigations are nothing more than an excuse for a luncheon date. You big oil cheerleaders crack me up...

Yeah, it's not like Congress hauls the 5 CEO's in front of them for a show trial ever year...

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: grampi

Just like Enron HAD to be truthful? I've got a bridge in San Fran I'll sell ya real cheap...The oil companies didn't become the most powerful entity in the world without learning how to sidestep a few auditors...

Comparing Enron Scandal to big 5 oil companies is totally wrong. Enron executives exaggerated company earning to raise stock price then sold their shares to profit themselves. What you had been saying was oil companies earned more than they reported in their financial statement. If they do, IRS would like to know to collect their share and if you can provide the information to IRS you will be rewarded handsomely.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tempest

Originally Posted By: grampi

The so called "inquiries" the gov conducts on oil companies are a joke. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them? Their investigations are nothing more than an excuse for a luncheon date. You big oil cheerleaders crack me up...

Yeah, it's not like Congress hauls the 5 CEO's in front of them for a show trial ever year...

That's EXACTLY what they do. They aren't about to do anything to pi$$ of the hand that feeds them all that revenue...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

Originally Posted By: grampi

Just like Enron HAD to be truthful? I've got a bridge in San Fran I'll sell ya real cheap...The oil companies didn't become the most powerful entity in the world without learning how to sidestep a few auditors...

Comparing Enron Scandal to big 5 oil companies is totally wrong. Enron executives exaggerated company earning to raise stock price then sold their shares to profit themselves. What you had been saying was oil companies earned more than they reported in their financial statement. If they do, IRS would like to know to collect their share and if you can provide the information to IRS you will be rewarded handsomely.

And like I said, the oil companies didn't get to be the world's most powerful force (and if you don't believe they are, you're even more naive than you're coming across) without learning how to sidestep a few auditors....if you actually believe the oil undustry is completely on the up and up, I feel sorry for you...

 

[LTVibe]

grampi, just keep believing what you want to believe and don't let the truth get in your way. You're obviously happy with hating the oil companies, and nobody is going to change your mind. The truth about energy profits

Quote:

...the caricature of fat-cat energy executives lining their pockets at the expense of the everyman doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe

grampi, just keep believing what you want to believe and don't let the truth get in your way. You're obviously happy with hating the oil companies, and nobody is going to change your mind. The truth about energy profits

Quote:

...the caricature of fat-cat energy executives lining their pockets at the expense of the everyman doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

...and you must work for an oil company. No one else would prop them up...

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: grampi

...and you must work for an oil company.

Nope. And I don't own any oil company stock either.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe

Originally Posted By: grampi

...and you must work for an oil company.

Nope. And I don't own any oil company stock either.

Then the only thing left is you must wear a tin foil hat....

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: grampi

Then the only thing left is you must wear a tin foil hat....

None of us have your hat, you have probably misplaced it. Oh wait... it's on your head! I'll bet you sure feel foolish now.

 

[Barkleymut]

Originally Posted By: grampi

Originally Posted By: LTVibe

grampi, just keep believing what you want to believe and don't let the truth get in your way. You're obviously happy with hating the oil companies, and nobody is going to change your mind. The truth about energy profits

Quote:

...the caricature of fat-cat energy executives lining their pockets at the expense of the everyman doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

...and you must work for an oil company. No one else would prop them up...

Not that I would prop them up but do you seriously believe all of the media hype about how evil they are? Who cares if they make huge profits? So does Walmart, so does Coke, so does Johnson and Johnson. They are publicly held companies in a free country. They can and should be able to charge whatever they want for their product. You in turn have the right to choose where you want to buy your fuel. And until Maxine Waters gets her way (heaven help us all) that is the way it should be.

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: grampi

And like I said, the oil companies didn't get to be the world's most powerful force (and if you don't believe they are, you're even more naive than you're coming across) without learning how to sidestep a few auditors....if you actually believe the oil undustry is completely on the up and up, I feel sorry for you...

The vast majority of the oil companies of the world are owned by governments, yet you continue to disparage private US companies that control less than 10% of the worlds oil. Your motivation is obvious.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Barkleymut

Not that I would prop them up but do you seriously believe all of the media hype about how evil they are? Who cares if they make huge profits? So does Walmart, so does Coke, so does Johnson and Johnson. They are publicly held companies in a free country. They can and should be able to charge whatever they want for their product. You in turn have the right to choose where you want to buy your fuel. And until Maxine Waters gets her way (heaven help us all) that is the way it should be.

People always make these irrelevent comparisons. The difference is, I don't have to buy from Wal-Mart. I can go to Target, K-Mart, Cosco, whatever, and I may end up finding what I'm looking for at a 20, 30, or even a 50% savings. You can't do that with gas/diesel because this industry operates in a cartel selling a product world economies MUST have in order to survive. Shopping around for gas prices is a waste of time since prices are strictly controled (within a few pennies) so they're basically the same for any given area. Also, I can more than likely do with the stuff from Wal-Mart much easier than I can do without gas...and the oil companies know this, which is why they get away with raping consumers...

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: grampi

People always make these irrelevent comparisons. The difference is, I don't have to buy from Wal-Mart. I can go to Target, K-Mart, Cosco, whatever, and I may end up finding what I'm looking for at a 20, 30, or even a 50% savings. You can't do that with gas/diesel because this industry operates in a cartel selling a product world economies MUST have in order to survive. Shopping around for gas prices is a waste of time since prices are strictly controled (within a few pennies) so they're basically the same for any given area. Also, I can more than likely do with the stuff from Wal-Mart much easier than I can do without gas...and the oil companies know this, which is why they get away with raping consumers...

So what do you want to see happen that will alleviate this "problem"?

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: grampi

Shopping around for gas prices is a waste of time since prices are strictly controled (within a few pennies) so they're basically the same for any given area. Also, I can more than likely do with the stuff from Wal-Mart much easier than I can do without gas...and the oil companies know this, which is why they get away with raping consumers...

Gramps: crude oil is $100-120 a barrel everywhere in the world, with the exact price depending mainly on quality -- light sweet crude is more valuable than heavy sour crude. Gasoline and distillate fuels are also about the same everywhere in the world, before taxes in most countries but before subsidies in places like Venezuela, Iran, and some other oil-surplus countries. The prices of fuel vary from state to state according to taxes and supply-demand patterns. They vary from city to city according to competitive pressures or the lack thereof. No-brand stations tend to be cheaper than branded stations, and average prices are higher where there are few no-brand stations. I suspect your ranting against "oil companies" makes you feel better; but really, it is a pointless exercise and you are not persuading anyone with your rants.

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: grampi

...and the oil companies know this, which is why they get away with raping consumers...

If you want to accuse somebody of raping consumers, then how about OPEC, the speculators, and our government's policies? They are the ones most blame for the out-of-control price of crude. If oil companies could dictate the price of crude, they could set the price so gas would only cost $2/gallon. And the oil companies would still be able to make a decent profit without upsetting consumers.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tempest

Originally Posted By: grampi

People always make these irrelevent comparisons. The difference is, I don't have to buy from Wal-Mart. I can go to Target, K-Mart, Cosco, whatever, and I may end up finding what I'm looking for at a 20, 30, or even a 50% savings. You can't do that with gas/diesel because this industry operates in a cartel selling a product world economies MUST have in order to survive. Shopping around for gas prices is a waste of time since prices are strictly controled (within a few pennies) so they're basically the same for any given area. Also, I can more than likely do with the stuff from Wal-Mart much easier than I can do without gas...and the oil companies know this, which is why they get away with raping consumers...

So what do you want to see happen that will alleviate this "problem"?

Two simple solutions; either remove energy products from the commodities market altogther, or change the rules pertaining to speculators so that they must front at least 75% of their own money when playing in the market. This would dictate that price would be based soley on supply and demand, and not feelings as they are now...