Exxon is swimming in unprecedented windfall good points whereas Individuals endure on the pump

Exxon made $19.66 billion in profit in just three months. Good work when you can get it and not be plagued by guilt, patriotism, or concern for global democracy.

Yesterday it was Shell making headlines with huge earnings, today it’s Exxon — but Exxon far ahead of Shell and others with earnings “nearly doubling” in the third quarter.

Reuters reported:

Third-quarter net income of $19.66 billion far topped recently upgraded Wall Street forecasts as natural gas and oil prices soared…

Exxon, which led record profits among the five producers known as oil majors in the prior quarter, fared ahead of rivals Shell and TotalEnergies with third-quarter profits nearly doubling. His gains were helped by his heavily criticized decision to double down on fossil fuel use as European competitors switched to renewable energy.

Exxon raised $43 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 19% from the same period in 2008, when oil was trading at a record $140 a barrel.

Though President Biden urged oil companies to show a little patriotism by channeling rising profits into more production rather than stock buybacks, Exxon will continue its “$30 billion stock repurchase program through 2023 while increasing dividends … and this year 15.” Pay billions of dollars to shareholders.”

Republicans blame these high gas prices on President Biden—most of you already know because you actually read—that the root cause of these high prices is oil and gas companies gouging consumers. And boy, boy, rake it in while Americans get hurt.

All oil and gas companies except Samson Energy have given primarily to Republicans and Conservatives, and over time it has only gotten more extreme. (You can look up the Republicans running in your state to see the oil and gas cash flow.)

From Open Secrets:

While Republican Mehmet Oz is campaigning in Pennsylvania to defend Big Oil against Democrat John Fetterman’s proposals that they stop price gouging under the hood, it turns out that Oz has a lot of personal motivation for screwing up a lot of Pennsylvanian affiliation with Big Oil, including donations of over $200,000 for his Senate campaign.

These huge gains are said to be due to increasing demand and the underserved market. But there are things that could have eased the pain.

Empathizing with American families, President Biden said on October 19, “When the price of gas goes up, other spending will be cut. That’s why I’ve been doing everything in my power to bring gas prices down ever since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused those price increases – those prices have skyrocketed and rocked international oil markets.”

And then he did something about it: “Today, I’m announcing three critical steps my administration will be taking to lower gas prices at the pump. First, the Department of Energy will release an additional 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, extending our previously announced release through the month of December… Second, we must responsibly increase American oil production without delaying or postponing our transition to clean energy… Third, I urge oil companies to pass the savings on to consumers.”

Biden noted, “So far, American oil companies have used the windfall to buy back their own stock and passed that money on to their shareholders, not consumers.”

Yes, and it hasn’t stopped.

Not only did every Republican vote no to a Democratic bill to stop price gouging, but we, in case it wasn’t clear, President Trump pressured his friends in Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut oil production in mid-2020, because it would be good for the oil and gas industry.

“I was just speaking to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) from Saudi Arabia who was speaking to President Putin from Russia and I expect and hope that they will cut about 10 million barrels and maybe significantly more, what if it is happens, also will be GREAT for the oil and gas industry!” Trump tweeted.

The New York Times reported: “The net income of the world’s oil and natural gas producers will double in 2022 from 2021 levels to a record $4 trillion. “Today’s high fossil fuel prices have brought producers an unprecedented windfall,” the Paris-based agency said in its World Energy Outlook released this week.

Shell and Total Energies on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings that more than doubled compared to the same period last year.

These gains are said to be due to Russia’s war against Ukraine. profits. Yet somehow Republicans expect American consumers to pay more to do their bit while they greedily rake in donations from the profits on American backs.

In August, the BBC included this link in its reporting: “Last year (BP) CEO Bernard Looney described the energy market as ‘a money-making machine.'”

As a matter of fact.

It’s greed and politics. Big oil continues to make big profits and prioritize shareholders over production while Americans are hammered between the pandemic, global inflation and Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Republicans defend Big Oil like it’s the little guy in the room being attacked by mean Democrats, but the truth is obviously very different.

The Democrats aren’t asking Big Oil to stop making profits; after all, that should be their job. But companies used to work with a sense of patriotism and pride in making a contribution to our country. While now they pay as little tax as possible, while in times of great trouble and pain they mug Americans. They have become monsters who lack any moral compass, and this behavior is made possible by the greatest recipient of their greed, the Republican Party.

What does the Republican Party stand for now other than conspiracies, imprisonment, attacks on democracy and relentless oligarch takeovers?

Sarah has been accredited to report on President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and to exclusively interview spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively on her first appearance at home following the then-Vice President’s first impeachment to report to President Donald Trump.

Sarah is a two-time Telly Award-winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.