Big Oil's Big Haul: $102+ Billion in First 3 Quarters of 2011

Graphic from ThinkProgress

Conservatives shrug off income inequality, even though it is at all-time American highs. They aren't concerned about giant executive bonuses, even if it's being done in taxpayer-bailed-out corporations. And huge government subsidies to big oil, to the tune of billions? For some reason, with all the slash and burn they want to do to government spending, they don't mind shoveling the money to corporations.

So, besides all that, we Americans are paying north of $3.50 per gallon for gasoline. That's a damned site better than the getting-close-to $5 we were once heading for. But it is also quite a bit higher than it was, say three years ago.  If the costs were legitimate, if it really cost that much to make a gallon of gas, and make a little profit, that would be fine. But the big oil companies aren't making a little profit. They aren't making a moderate profit. They aren't even making huge profits. They're making obscene profits, higher profits than any other entity ever made in profit in the history of the world. Where do those multi-billions go, anyway? I'd love to see an accounting of it.

[Excerpt]


Big Oil’s Scary Haul: $100 Billion And Counting 

The combined profits of the Big Five oil companies — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron — has already exceeded $100 billion this year. . .

Read more at: Think Progress