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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (6280)	12/7/2005 3:57:59 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542256

Exxon currently has an operating margin around 15% and net margins around 10%. Shell and Conoco operate around 12% and 8%, operating and net. I imagine those numbers are higher than historical norms since much of the oil being sold at current spot prices was discovered and developed years ago. Drilling and exploration are way up - I saw a stat saying the number of drilling rigs is up 30-40% over 2004. But the total production doesn't seem to go up that much due to old fields being depleted and patchy success with new drilling. Energy is a very cyclical business, feast or famine. Grocery stores tend to run at a steady 1-2% net margin regardless.

To: KLP who wrote (6280)	12/7/2005 4:28:28 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542256

Well, I am not aware of any business where the money just falls off trees. The oil business is rough, it's true, as is any mining business. Very hard physical labor, ripping minerals from the earth, using big, expensive, complicated machinery. And refineries are tough places, very dangerous, very technologically intensive. I worked at Exxon Refinery in Baton Rouge in the early 1970's. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for an oil refinery. Have caught many a fish while our boat was tied up to an offshore oil rig. Cut my teeth as a young lawyer in cases involving people who worked in the oil patch. The only time these people feel sorry for themselves is when the market is low for oil. Otherwise, these people feel like they were chosen by God for special favors. They love the business, especially when it pays off, and it pays off often enough to make them rich, although it is boom and bust. If you can't handle boom and bust, get a job working for the government. As for restaurants -- my grandmother owned a restaurant. Anybody who gets paid cash -- well, enough said. She is gone to her reward and I will tell no tales. They did all right, just leave it at that.