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Exxon is so freakin' huge, one or more segments could lose mony and they'd still return that 8%. They're quite diversified.
Not sure what you mean by speculated cost.
When they drill and develop a new unproven field based on geologic research they are speculating that the reserves are sufficient to cover the development and transportation expense at the same time make a profit (risk reward). Is that what you mean by speculator?
the big money is from the institutional hedgers, not speculators. *shrugs*
Benchmark U.S. crude on Wednesday fell by $1.17 to finish at a seven-month low of $92.81 per barrel in New York. Oil is down nearly 13 percent since the beginning of May. Brent crude, which helps set the price of oil imported into the U.S., fell by $1.70 to finish at $109.75 per barrel in London. Prices fell as a report showed that U.S. crude supplies had climbed to the highest level in 22 years. Supplies grew last week by 2.1 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. That's a bigger increase than analysts expected, and more could be on the way. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that the U.S. will ask other countries to release spare oil reserves when the Group of Eight meets this Friday. The report follows rumors earlier this year that Western nations were planning a coordinated release of spare supplies. The White House wouldn't comment about the report.
Peter Donovan, a broker at Vantage Trading, said oil fell sharply in the afternoon as the Kyodo headline was passed around the New York Mercantile Exchange, where futures are traded. Kyodo said President Obama will ask leaders of other G-8 countries Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia to make spare supplies available to refineries this summer. The release would be geared toward keeping prices in check in July, when the European Union begins a ban on oil imports from Iran. The U.S. and other industrialized countries tried a similar tactic last summer after the Libyan rebellion shut down that country's oil fields. The move had only limited success, however. Oil prices fell temporarily but ended 2011 higher than they started.
Oil prices have been falling on signs that demand is cooling while supplies are building. Major oil producers like Saudi Arabia delivered more supplies to the world market. Meanwhile, data from the U.S. and China suggest economic growth is moderating, while Europe is teetering on recession. If the eurozone cannot solve its debt problems, it will weaken an economy that consumes 18 percent of the world's oil. It also could contribute to a global banking crisis that would hurt the U.S., China and other countries. "It's making a lot of guys nervous around here," Donovan said.
At the pump, U.S. retail gasoline prices were flat at a national average of $3.73 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price of a gallon of regular has held steady since Friday, though experts say the average pump price could fall as low as $3.50 per gallon by the Fourth of July. In other energy futures trading, heating oil lost 3.54 cents to finish at $2.8976 per gallon, while wholesale gasoline fell dropped by 2.32 cents to end at $2.9209 per gallon. Natural gas rose by 11.8 cents to end at $2.618 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Price of oil still falling as supplies grow - Yahoo! News
Exxon makes 8% profit about every year
How is it they can do that with the price of oil at a level that is driven by pure speculation?
and
Who is it that ends up with these speculated cost?
The Saudis?
The driller?
Lets start there
Exxon makes 8% profit about every year
How is it they can do that with the price of oil at a level that is driven by pure speculation?
and
Who is it that ends up with these speculated cost?
The Saudis?
The driller?
Lets start there
Not too clear as to the point? Oil and natural gas prices are dictated by foreign oil cartels, driven by supply/demand. Exxon purchases oil on the open spot market, drills, distributes natural gas, refines what they produce and purchase, but most importantly distributes with a built in profit margin. So they make money and speculators that purchase leases and run wildcat exploration outfits make and loose the big bucks. The art of management is to insure continual supply and contain operating costs.
Funny you never hear about the speculators when the price goes down. D0 they just disappear into thin air and reappear when the prices go up?
Exxon makes 8% profit about every year
How is it they can do that with the price of oil at a level that is driven by pure speculation?
Who is it that ends up with these speculated cost?
Exxon makes 8% profit about every year
How is it they can do that with the price of oil at a level that is driven by pure speculation?
and
Who is it that ends up with these speculated cost?
The Saudis?
The driller?
Lets start there
It's typical of big business to report absurdly low profits in their effort to avoid avoid taxes. For example, Apple has some of the highest profits of any company in the world, yet they report a tiny profit to the IRS. One way they do this is to assign their patents to "fake" off-shore companies in tax havens. So, their R&D counts as expenses, but their IP revenue doesn't count as income. I suspect Exxon likewise is attributing all the revenue that they can get away with to off-shore companies.
Loopholes with certain stock options is a common method that many companies use to avoid taxes by understating their profit. There are many other ways the rich avoid taxes.
It costs only pennies per gallon to extract most oil. A few pennies more to refine and ship it. The US and Canada is now extracting hard-to-get oil which costs more (and burns up our natural gas in the process). Oil companies sometimes have to pay for leases which can suck up a percent of the profit. But, they are making profits far higher than they report.
You can be an oil speculator yourself by buying oil that hasn't yet been sold.
Exxon makes 8% profit about every year
How is it they can do that with the price of oil at a level that is driven by pure speculation?
If oil is 50 dollars a barrel, what is their profit if their margin is 8 percent?
Very good! 4 dollars!
If oil is 100 dollars a barrel, what is their profit if their margin is 8 percent?
Well done! 8 dollars!
They make "record profits" when the price goes up, see?
Now how hard was that?
Who is it that ends up with these speculated cost?
Us. The people who put gas in the tank of our car.