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Big Oil, Big Money
For the fourth straight quarter, Exxon raked in $10 billion or more in profits.
Results released on Friday morning found the company detailing its best start to a year in a century and a half of corporate history.
Net income of $11.4 billion "reflects changes we've made," according to CEO Darren Woods, who enjoyed a 50% raise in 2022. He expects higher oil prices in 2023.
The company's blockbuster Q1 came on the heels of a near $13 billion haul in Q4, which was itself a rousing encore from
My old enfeebled brain still remembers when Exxon changed its name (based on a computer-generated list of random letter combinations) and became the first corporation in US history to report a one billion dollar profit. Imagine that. When I started my doctoral program in 1967 the daily stock volume on the NYSE was 5-6 million shares. Imagine that. Billions a day today. The last time Exxon profits jumped like this was in the oil crisis of 1973-74. Congress had to stop this rape of the poor citizens so they passed an excess profits tax. Of, course that never worked but had a great many unintended consequences. The thing is that then, as now, our congressional and business leaders were masters of the practice of skating fast over thin ice.