Somebody is clearly benefitting from the record high prices for oil and natural gas Americans have been paying in the past year: big oil companies. On Thursday, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell PLC posted record profits for the third quarter of 2005.
Exxon Mobile became the first oil company ever to have quarterly sales exceed $100 billion. Third quarter revenues for Exxon Mobile exceeded the gross domestic product of oil producing nations such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Net income for Exxon Mobile was almost $10 billion according to Standard & Poor's equity market analyst Howard Silverblatt.
Income was up to record levels despite a slight drop in demand. Exxon's net income went to $9.92 billion. A year ago, it was a 'mere' $5.68 billion. Shell's income was more than $9 billion for the third quarter as well.
Damage done by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico this year were a factor in rising prices according to oil industry executives.
'We are capturing the benefits of high oil and gas prices and refining margins,' Shell Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser told the Associated Press.
The American people, however, are paying the price.
