The Associated Press reported oil companies made huge profits in the third quarter as a result of the high oil prices. Exxon Mobil Corp. had quarterly sales over $100 billion and Royal Dutch Shell PLC saw a profit of $9 billion just in the third quarter. The AP article says the enormous profits raise questions about why these high costs being pased on to consumers.
Those results led Democrats in Congress to demand a new windfall profits tax. "Big oil behemoths are making out like bandits, while the average American family is getting killed by high gas prices, and soon-to-be record heating oil prices," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.
But Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said President Bush opposes such a move and is instead considering a wide range of proposals to help cushion consumers, including the creation of an emergency reserve of gasoline and other refined products.
Thursday's outsized earnings are a result of surging oil and natural gas prices that pushed pump prices to record territory after Hurricane Katrina. They come on the heels of similar eye-popping gains reported this week by BP PLC (BP), ConocoPhillips Inc. and Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) Chevron Corp. (CVX) reports its earnings on Friday.
Gas prices have come down from the all-time high in September but the average national gas prices is still over $2.50 a gallon according to the AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.
