02-01-2005, 11:31 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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big damn hero
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Originally Posted by the420star
I feel there is a big push towards the fuel cell. I mean the more i read about it and more i see, it seems to be something people really belive in and love. The fuel cell could pretty much eliminate the need for fossil fuels, but i doubt gas will ever really disapear.
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Gasoline will never die as long as big oil conglomerates are making serious money off it and it looks like they are....
Just check this out...
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Here's a truism in the oil industry: Oil prices go up, oil company earnings go up. It happened Monday for the world's largest publicly traded oil company.
ExxonMobil (XOM) earned a record $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter and a record $25.3 billion for 2004, the company announced. It earned $1.30 per share for the quarter, vs. $1.01 a year earlier.
Annual revenue was a record $298 billion, up 20% from a year ago. Per share profit for 2004 was $3.89, vs. $3.23 a year ago.
"It's simply that," oil industry analyst Jeb Armstrong of Argus Research said of the truism.
He has a "hold" on Exxon stock and expects earnings in 2005 to be in the same range as 2004, though no record. "We're looking at energy prices to remain at their historically high levels," he said.
ExxonMobil benefited from more than just higher prices for the oil and natural gas that it drills and the gasoline that it produces. The company's refining capability allows it to handle cheaper "sour" crude oil, as well as more expensive light, sweet crude, said Bill Ferer, president of W.H. Reaves, an investment management firm. That means its profit margins were higher for the sour crude that it refined.
"As world demand has exploded beyond anything we've seen in 20 years, world supply has been met largely with heavier, sour crude oil," he said. "Exxon is well equipped to handle that."
The seasonal increase in demand for heating oil also helped fourth-quarter profit, Ferer said.
The earnings could be a record for any company in a quarter. "It's the best year and the best quarter ever," said Neil McMahon, an analyst with Bernstein & Co. He added that he had been unable to find another U.S. corporation that earned as much in a quarter.
ExxonMobil said it made more in both major parts of its business, exploration and production of oil and gas, and refining and selling of finished products.
Ferer said conservative investors might be reluctant to invest in oil companies now, fearing they've missed the big run-up in values. But he said Exxon is likely to raise its dividend in 2005, and "that's an important source of return for investors." ExxonMobil stock closed up 33 cents at $51.60.
Other oil companies have reported strong earnings:
• ChevronTexaco said Friday that fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled to $3.4 billion, $1.63 a share, up from $1.74 billion, 82 cents a share. Profit for the year rose 85% to $13.3 billion.
• ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $2.4 billion, or $3.44 a share, vs. $1.0 billion, or $1.48 per share, a year earlier. Profit for the year rose 72% to $8.1 billion.
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Gasoline won't be replaced by any 'alternative' fuel sources until the big oil conglomerates figure out a way to make some serious money off it. Right now, it's not in their interest to do anything but pay lip service to alternative fuel sources. Oil is a hot commodity and everyone needs it. For most folks there are no other options. The only hope is government intervention and we all know how likely that is.
/cynic
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No signature. None. Seriously.
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