Exxon Breaks its own Profit Record

With gas prices at record high levels Exxon Mobil has just released its quarterly earnings. The corporation earned $11.68 billion. It broke its own record as the most profitable company in the US. This is just for a 3 month period. And to top it off they produced 8% less oil and gas in the same period. They made more money while producing less. To break it down:

• $90,000 per minute
  


• $1,500 per second

Click for Video clip of Exxon Mobil profits

Exxon beat its own earnings for the same quarter last year ($10.3 billion) by more than $1 billion. It also topped its previous record of $1.6 billion set in the last quarter of 2007.

Excluding a $290 million charge related to the $508 million punitive damages award for the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill set by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, quarterly earnings rose 17 percent to $11.9 billion, or $2.27 per share. Revenue was $138 billion, up from $98 billion a year ago.

"We expect that these results will be viewed negatively today," Simmons & Co. International said in a note to investors.

Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that record crude and natural gas prices were partially offset by lower refining and chemical margins, lower production volumes and higher operating costs. The company spent $7 billion in the second quarter on capital and exploration projects, up 38 percent. But Exxon Mobil spent $8 billion buying its own stock.

``We are demonstrating our commitment to return cash to our shareholders,'': Henry Hubble, vice president of investor relations, told analysts today. ``The way we think about the buyback, it's a distribution. We view it as nothing more than a distribution.''

On Capitol Hill Democrats decried the oil industry's blockbuster profits, with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. arguing ``It's Christmas in July'' in the board rooms of the major oil companies.

``What's good for Exxon Mobil is not good for America,'' Schumer said.