Exxon Mobil Shatters US Record for Annual Profit

Exxon Breaks Own Profit Record with $14.8 Billion 3rd Quarter

In January Exxon Mobil posted another record-breaking quarterly profit. The oil giant earned $14.8 billion in the third quarter, the most ever by a US corporation. That’s nearly 15 percent higher than the previous record Exxon set in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Europe’s biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, also reported high third quarter earnings, rising 74 percent to $10.9 billion.

Exxon founded by John D. Rockefeller is based in Irving Texas, USA. The area the company serves is worldwide. Their industry is oil and gas and their productions are fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.

Their market cap on January 29, 2009 was $391.672 billion US dollars. They employ over 100,000 employees. 

Transportation is the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. Americans use more gasoline per capita than residents of any other country, due largely to the fact that American automakers are producing vehicles that are less fuel-efficient than the cars that were on the road 30 years ago. RAN is pushing for dramatically increased fuel-efficiency standards and the elimination of vehicle greenhouse gases.

Their History: Exxon Mobil has a history of being sued for what have been perceived as crimes against the environment and human rights violations. It has been harshly criticized by major environmental advocacy groups among which are Greenpeace. In 2003, Greenpeace listed Exxon as #1 Climate Criminal. Exxon's crimes include the sabotage of efforts to deal with climate change, the fraudulent manipulation of peer reviewed scientific studies and organizations, misleading and outright lying to the population of the USA, its government officials and the global community in general. It has also been accused of fomenting so called junk science in order to deny climate change and support the views of climate skeptics, among other actions.

Human Rights:   ExxonMobil has been the target of human rights activists for actions taken by the corporation in the Indonesian territory of Aceh. In June 2001 a lawsuit against ExxonMobil was filed in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The suit alleges that the ExxonMobil knowingly assisted human rights violations, including torture, murder and rape, by employing and providing material support to Indonesian military forces, who committed the alleged offenses during civil unrest in Aceh. Human rights complaints involving ExxonMobil's relationship with the Indonesian military first arose in 1992; the company denies these accusations and has filed a motion to dismiss the suit.

During the past year gas prices increased to over $4 per gallon. While it is true that there has been a minor reduction in fuel prices it does not seem equitable to the profits that are being made by this and other companies.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? In the words of Arsenio Hall "Things that make you go hmmm.!"