"The oil companies profits have tripled to 9 billion in third quarter."
Yep; it's a volatile industry. When times are bad, and demand for oil drops, their profits drop. When global demand exceeds supply, like now, profits go up.
Total Q4 and full-year 2020 earnings: Oil major's profit falls 66%
cnbc.com
Feb 9, 2021 — The energy major said full-year 2020 net profit came in at $4.06 billion, beating expectations of $3.86 billion from analysts polled by ...
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It's not the first time this has happened. In 2008 (which also wasn't the first time), the price was bid up to about $150.bbl, IIRC, before it crashed. Every time it happens, corporate hatred follows, somebody investigates, nothing is found, Bernie makes an angry speech, and we buy more cars that use their products.
Exxon's Second-Quarter Earnings Set a Record
nytimes.com
Aug 1, 2008 — Exxon's profits were nearly $90,000 a minute over the quarter, but it was less than Wall Street had expected. Exxon's shares fell 4.6 percent, ...
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and then....
Oil producers running out of storage space - NBC News
nbcnews.com
Mar 3, 2009 — As demand for crude has plummeted, the world suddenly finds ... Many oil tankers are little more than floating storage facilities now.
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and this time
Oil held in storage at sea approaching 2009 record as glut ...
reuters.com
Apr 1, 2020 — There are over 770 supertankers in the world - each carrying a maximum of 2 million barrels - and shipping sources estimate that between 25 to ...
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I'm not sure how much gouging is going on. World oil production is 5 M BPD below where it was 2018, so the price gets bid up.
peakoilbarrel.com |
