Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Just Lucky

WASHINGTON - The country's three largest oil and gas companies are expected to report combined first-quarter profits this week in excess of $16 billion, a 19 percent surge from last year that is sure to complicate life for the industry in Washington, where elected officials are scrambling for ways to assuage angry consumers and businesses.

...

The combined earnings expected from ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. will be 14 times greater than the combined first-quarter profits of Google Inc., Apple Computer Inc. and Oracle Corp.

...

But with world oil prices trading at about $72 a barrel, analysts say full-year profits for the oil majors are likely to surpass the record-setting earnings of 2005, when Exxon reported a $36.13 billion profit - the highest ever for a U.S. company.
But we're supposed to believe there's no gouging going on, that the oil companies are just lucky that they own a commodity that increases in value during the six months or so it takes to go from being pumped out of the ground to being pumped into a gas tank.

Except.

They never seem to be as "unlucky" when the commodity price decreases?

Ah huh. I'm so confused.
Written at 8:22 AM by Greyhair.
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