Thanks to Higher Oil Prices, Shell First Quarter Profits Rise Over 15 Percent
Royal Dutch Shell’s profits rose 15.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012, netting $7.3 billion. Shell’s CEO Peter Voser attributed the increase in part to “strong oil prices,” which rose to over $100 a barrel this quarter.
In 2011, Shell’s profits soared 54 percent to $3.5 million every hour, despite producing 3 percent less oil. This time, it produced 4 percent more than Q1 in 2011.
A few facts about Shell:
- Shell posted $7.3 billion in profits for quarter one, or $80.2 million per day.
- It is the second-largest lobbyist in oil and gas, lobbying $14.6 million in 2011. This is up from 10 million in 2009 and 2010.
- Shell reported 63 operational oil spills in 2011, double the number from 2010. This is due to a spill in Nigeria, which Amnesty International alleges is 60 times worse than Shell originally claimed.
- Shell has more than $10 billion in cash reserves as of January 2012.
- Shell CEO Peter Voser’s compensation more than doubled in 2011 to $15.3 million. His salary increased (in euros) by 113 percent. Even though oil production dropped 3 percent.
- The company plans to drill in the Arctic Ocean, spending more than $4 billion over five years in “its quest to exploit the vast oil and natural gas resources believed to lie beneath the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the north coast of Alaska,” according to the New York Times.
– source thinkprogress.org
Exxon Makes $104 Million In Profit Per Day So Far In 2012
Last year, ExxonMobil, one of the world’s most profitable companies, earned $1,300 in profits per second. As consumers paid record-high springtime gas prices, Exxon posted first quarter profits of $9.45 billion.
This is down slightly from the first quarter of 2011, when Exxon posted $10.65 billion in profits. Exxon benefited from the high price of oil, but analysts expected slightly lower profits due in part to the cheap price of natural gas, which the company is heavily invested in.
A by-the-numbers look shows how Exxon’s executives and Big Oil’s allies are rewarded generously for the company’s billions, while Americans are stuck with rising gas bills:
- $9.45 billion profits, or almost $104 million per day in the first three months of the year.
- 13 percent: The tax rate Exxon paid last year, lower than the average American family.
- 60 percent of its first quarter earnings, or $5.7 billion, on buying back stock. Became world’s largest dividend payer by increasing dividends 21 percent.
- $1,091,000: Political contributions sent to federal politicians for the 2012 election cycle, making it the largest oil and gas spender.
- 91% of these contributions went to Republicans.
- More than $52,000,000: Lobbying for the first three years of the Obama presidency, 50 percent more than in the Bush Administration.
- $34.9 million: Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson’s salary for 2011, a 20 percent raise.
- $52,300: Political contributions from Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson in the 2012 cycle, alone.
- No. 2: Fortune 500 list of richest companies and for highest-paid CEO.
Exxon not only used 60 percent of its Q1 profits to buy back its stocks, enriching executives and largest shareholders, but it funnels money through political groups like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and American Petroleum Institute, to influence legislation in its favor.
– source thinkprogress.org