from sales as everyone makes it sound?
http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/other_resources/energyanswers/oil_profits.htm
2007-01-12 05:34:58 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
so it is the consumer's fault for buying their product? So then why do people complain about oil company's when their profit margin on an individual sale is so small?
2007-01-12 05:41:45 · update #1
The problem with the oil companies is the pricing strategy. They do not price gouge, but rather engage in price fixing by fiat. The price at the pump does not properly reflect the price per barrel. The price per barrel has dropped dramatically, domestic supply has increased for the last 4 month, but the per gallon price has hardly moved at all. Now I understand supply and demand arguments and they do work with a proper competition model, but the oil companies do not have normal competition. If station A sells for price x then you can bet that station B across the street will selling for the same price or within pennies so there is no real competition. Further gas does not fit the normal product model, you can choose not to buy that new tv or automobile, but most of us don't have a choice on buying gas. Therefore we are a captive market and held hostage to a pricing system which does not foster fair competition to keep prices low. Meanwhile the oil companies are raking in record profits and then claiming they are not at all at fault for the high prices. Sorry, I just don't buy it anymore.
2007-01-12 06:36:56 · answer #1 · answered by Bryan 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's all relative when speaking of corporate profit margins. The amount of product sold versus the cost of preparing the product comes into play to a large degree. Obviously, I am no economics major but I have never had a problem with a business making a profit. When they fix pricing or get special incentives that are withheld from other companies, that's where I find myself becoming disgruntled. I also have no guilt with America being a consumer of this product although I hope we soon gain the foresight to force our nation to embrace other alternatives. Ones that are more plentiful and less polluting than crude oil. I feel no guilt about our use other than the environmental damage it does. It would be the same as feeling guilty because I eat 5 grain bread or buy wargame FPS games for my PC.
I think it is more in the volume of what they sell and that we have no real alternatives offered that causes the anger.
And that website puts spin on their image. Big surprise, even CNN and FOX do that...non issue. One has to have a highly refined BS detector these days.
2007-01-12 13:44:48 · answer #2 · answered by Rich B 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
you've fallen for that one, i thought that had been nailed long ago. no the oil companies do not make big profits in countries where they have to pay tax. as soon as the oil leaves the ground it belongs to a company in some off-shore tax haven. it often takes a route through several off-shore companies to shake off any auditors. eventually it is sold to the main company in the US at an exorbitant price so they make little or no profit on it, and therefore, pay very little tax. the profits off-shore are paid into the off-shore accounts of the major shareholders and usually make their way home via tax free trust funds.
2007-01-12 13:50:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes they do, the profit margin is a small percentage but when you consider the enormous volume of oil they sell, they are making a huge profit, exxon made almost 10 billion profit in one quarter last year
people complain because the product is not being competitively priced, the price is being kept artificially high to inflate profits
2007-01-12 13:40:28 · answer #4 · answered by Nick F 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Oh ya, blame it on the consumers? Oil is an essential, not a commodity that one can throw out of one's spending budget because Americans are a mobile society. Are long-distant travellers have to forgo safety - when travelling on the highway with those oil trucks, huge delivery vehicles and buses and huge commercial-used vehicles on the roads - by travelling long distance in small gasoline-conserving cars? Maybe, blame it on the delivery and construction trucks, oil-delivery vehicles and all the huge comercially used vehicles first before blaming everything on the commonfolks!
2007-01-12 13:57:32 · answer #5 · answered by United_Peace 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Exxon Mobil made the largest profit of any company in the HISTORY of the United States last quarter. The previous record was also held by them and was for another quarter of last year.
2007-01-12 13:43:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They don't? So revenues from sales are not significant to their profits. Hmmmmmm. What is then? Are federal subsidies more important? Hmmmmmm. Would it make sense to influence national foreign policy to destabilize oil supplies to affect margins? Hmmmm I think I'll refer to the Conoco/Phillips web site to get some good unbiased straight poop on the Oil Companies.
doopy, doopy, doopy, dooo... duh, duh, duh, duh......
Yeah, I see. It says right here that Exxon's $36,000,000,000.00 profit in 2005 isn't as much as most people think it is. That's only a stack of $1 bills about as high as Mar's orbit. I thought it might hit Jupiter or Pluto or Heaven.
2007-01-12 13:47:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Their profit margin isn't that big. But their total profits are HUGE! You have to look at both profit margins and total profits.
2007-01-12 13:39:50 · answer #8 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
well first off, look at the website you want us to look at. Its the oil companies website!! do you actually think they are going to say they make to much money and are sorry?
2007-01-12 13:40:20 · answer #9 · answered by Haven17 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
omigod you are gullible. are you in the bush cabinet?
2007-01-12 14:01:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋