Big oil "reported" 36 Billion in profits the first quarter of this year. Gas Average was about $4.00 Jan-Mar. Why not sell gas at .40 cents per gallon they still make 3.6 Billon per quarter and everyone is happy? Is this asking too Much?

Greed is a powerful thing. As long as Oil companies can force us to buy gas @ $4+ per gallon, they will. And as long as people insist on driving SUVs that average 10-15 MPG, the demand for Oil will keep feeding the corporate greed.

That's the way I see it anyway.

Dwayne Vandiver

42... The Meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything.

Oh, if you believe the oil execs, as apparently our congress does, they're not making profits that are out of line with other industries.... They claim that this is merely a return on the Beeeeelllleeeeeoooonnnsssss and beeeeellllleeeeeeonnns of dollars they spent on oil exploration and production. What background do our President & Vice-President share???? Oil,so expect no help or sympathy from the lame duck or the greedy, and extremely secretive, vp who "accidentally" shoots his "friends".

Matt in Moore Tafetta White 2008 HCHII

I am not pro-big-oil, but I have to say that your math is majorly flawed. You can't reduce your gross sales by 90% and expect your profit to only go down by 90% unless you have zero costs. Do you really think they have zero costs? I don't.

To take this point a little further with a hypothetical example....

Suppose that $36B in profits is a 10% profit margin, which is a pretty darn good return on investment. That would make total sales $360B, and total cost of goods sold $324B.

Reduce selling price from $4.00/gal to $0.40/gal and now you've got total revenue of only $36B.

Assume that total cost of goods sold stays the same at $324B, the companies have now achieved a combined loss of $288B.

All these are hypothetical numbers achieved through auto-rectal selection. Can't do a real analysis with seeing the individual financials of each one, but you get the drift.

(It's actually an '09!)

I was thinking the same thing.

The news never states whether it is net or gross profits. It could almost be assumed that it is gross profits as I highly doubt that it will be widely spouted on what the net profits were. Then it wouldn't look like they made that much.

WARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINION AHEAD

America's economy is based on free enterprise. The gas companies are providing a product that consumers pay for. If the product gets too expensive, consumers can buy less or switch to alternatives. Making profit is not inherently evil.

Many companies benefit from the misfortune of others. Should a funeral home not make a profit because they only get business when someone dies?

We cannot blame oil companies for making a profit, as that is what ANY company is designed to do. A companies obligation is to maximize profits. Anything less is a violation of their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. The shareholders in those companies (and you might be one, whether you know it or not, through 401(k), mutual funds, etc.) certainly expect those profits, and if they did not get them they'd invest their money elsewhere.

As hybrids become more popular, manufacturers of critical components will make profits. Are they evil?

Yes, I know, people HAVE to get to work. That doesn't mean they have to do it in a Suburban or Expedition. It is each consumer's personal preference that drives their vehicle choice. They know how much gas it would take when they bought it, and they took the risk that gas would continue to be cheap and plentiful, despite warnings like spikes in prices in the early 70's (Arab embargo) and 90's (Gulf I). Now those increases that used to be temporary are taking hold, and people are having to adjust their habits.

Everybody put the flamethrowers away, it's just my opinion.

(It's actually an '09!)

My personal car is fine. I get about 34mpg and it costs about $45 to fill up where it used to be $25. My biggest concern is my Semi. I used to be able to buy 120 gallons for $90.
Now 120 gallons costs me $575. But the company I'm leased to charges a fuel surcharge to the shippers which will be added to the cost of the load. Then that cost is passed on to the consumers. Almost everything in the country that is bought and sold is on a truck atleast one time. A $90 fuel surcharge for a load has increased to $575 per load. I'm sure you've seen the rising prices at the grocery store. And they will keep going up as long as the fuel keeps going up. And Everything you buy that comes on a truck.

Absolutely. "If you have it, a truck brought it."

My company manufactures trucks (maybe even yours). Fuel costs are just now getting to the point where a significant number of carriers are considering fuel mileage in their purchasing decision. Carriers have long gone for "large-cars" and "hoods" because that was what drivers wanted, despite their inefficiency. Now they're realizing that fuel efficiency can have a significant impact on their bottom line.

It just so happens that my company makes the most fuel efficient heavy truck currently available, as well as having made a significant number of specialized vehicles for the military recently. As our sales go up we make profit from selling these products. The increased costs of those trucks also get phased into all the products that they carry. If we can make more profits, we should. But the direct competition in our industry limits our profits.

For the oil companies, the price of gas is just now getting to the point where hybrids and alternative fuels are now becoming a viable option and beginning to offer competition.

The main point I'm trying to make is that companies are supposed to make a profit. I don't like costs going up, but lets not convict the oil companies of wrongdoing just because they make a profit.

(It's actually an '09!)

My first Truck was a Kenworth T-600, 2nd and 3rd have been midroof Century Class Freightliners. My next one will be either a Kenworth T-660, International Prostar or another Frieghtliner. I'm sure you make one of these. I get 7 mpg summer and 7.5 mpg winter because of less idling. But I shut my truck off alot. Probably more than any other driver on the road. I know I'm in the top 1%. I shut my truck off even when it's 25 degrees out. I plug in a matress pad warmer to my cigarette lighter. This winter I'm going to add an electric blanket so I'll be sandwiched in warmth. This summer I've been using either Idle Air or shutting my truck off at night and using a fan that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I went from Sept till June without running my truck at night. That's hard to do down south. Even though it's 75 at night. The b.t.u.'s my body puts off makes it about 90 degrees in the truck in just a few hours. Then once the sun comes out forget about it. It's going to be 30 to 40 degress hotter in the truck than it is outside. But I'm still getting 7 mpg this summer. Other drivers in the "Classic" style trucks are getting 3.5 to 4.5 mpg. I love my plain old 7.5 mpg truck. I get paid the same on the load as a guy with a big ole chromed out Peterbuilt strugling to get 5 mpg. The difference for me in income between 4 mpg and 7 mpg is an extra $36,000 a year in my pocket. That's why I shut my truck off all Fall Through Spring.