11 Feb Top 5 Oil Companies: $1 Trillion Profit, 2001-2011

I'm recommending this article by Daniel J. Weiss, Jackie Weidman, Rebecca Leber, published Feb. 8, 2012, "Big Oil's Banner Year: Higher Prices, Record Profits, Less Oil." In short, things are better than ever for Oil & Gas. Taking a look at the world's Top 5 (who also happen to be leading the world's wealthiest companies):

Profits 2010 / 2011:
–> ExxonMobil (Texas) $31B / $41B
–> Shell (Netherlands) $20B / $31B
–> Chevron (California) $19B / $27B
–> BP (United Kingdom) $(4)B / $26B
–> ConocoPhilips (Texas) $11B / $12B

Oil Production 2010 / 2011 in million barrels per day
–> ExxonMobil (Texas) 4.4 / 4.5
–> Shell (Netherlands) 3.3 / 3.2
–> Chevron (California) 2.8 / 2.7
–> BP (United Kingdom) 3.8 / 3.5
–> ConocoPhilips (Texas) 1.9 / 1.7

Chart with more data:

Maybe Obams's recent declaration that it's time to end oil subsidies is legit, right? Add to the above the fact that US Oil & Gas companies recv'd nearly 4x more incentive dollars over the last 60 years than any other US energy sector (including: natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, renewables, and geothermal), plus the number of Americans struggling to pay rent (or eat), plus the extraneous impacts of all that Gas & Oil on our health and environment, and the facts above just plain stink.

The Weiss/Weidman/Leber article is definitive. 2011's "Big Oil" companies produced less, raised prices, earned record profits, reinvested significantly in their own company stock, and earned a 30:1 return on their tax break / subsidies lobbying in D.C.

A couple of eye-popping quotes from their article:

• ExxonMobil, the most profitable of the big five, paid an effective tax rate of 17.6 percent (from 2008–2010 data), which is 3 percent less than what the average American family paid. But Exxon and other oil companies that receive these tax breaks do not pass benefits on to consumers.
   
• Despite generating $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP combined to reduce their U.S. workforce by 11,200 employees over that time.

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How does the Oil & Gas Industry compare to the rest of the world, in terms of pure wealth? See the numbers.
Visit my blog for more briefs on economy/environment & climate: http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/
See "Big Oil" article here: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/08/421061/big-oil-higher-prices-record-profits-less-oil/