To hell with the environment on this one, 'eh, Obama?
Related: Obama's Mushroom Cloud of a Bailout
Oh, well..... really wish we had sunk the trillions in war and bank loot into making solar cheaper, 'eh, Americans?
"Obama’s offshore oil drilling plan spurs push for billions in royalties" by Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | April 8, 2010
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s pledge last week to open huge areas for offshore drilling does more than expand potential oil and gas production. It creates an opportunity to pressure oil companies to pay billions of dollars for past deep-water oil production if they want to drill in the new areas.
Yes, when environment and money clash, guess what win$.
And that carbon tax is nothing but a $cam so Al Gore and Wall Street can get rich on carbon commodities and fart-mist futures!
At issue is a hotly contested law that, as read by the court, has allowed companies to avoid paying royalties on oil drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Critics, including Representative Edward J. Markey of Malden — who plans to introduce legislation next week — now seek to force companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell to begin paying on those existing leases as a condition of obtaining new ones.
I never say another word about it, readers.
The payments could add up to $50 billion for federal coffers....
That is MONEY the GOVERNMENT "failed" to collect for giving the price-gouging, profit-inflating oil companies the right to extract oil from YOUR LAND, American public!
One of the oil companies challenged the price trigger, and last year won a long-fought court case that is forcing the government to refund $2 billion in royalties that had already been paid.
So TAX DOLLARS must be CUT for a CHECK to the PROFITABLE OIL COMPANIES?
Moreover, because of the ruling, the government won’t get up to $53 billion in future royalties — a major hit for taxpayers....
The taxpayer is on the floor and the referee has long since passed the count of ten, Globe. Where you guys been?
Markey believes that chances for passage are good. A similar bill was incorporated into legislation that passed the House in 2008, but it was not taken up by the Senate.
Pfft!
Now, with Obama offering many more leases for bidding than were at stake in the 2008 bill, advocates hope that the political environment is riper for passage.
Oh, SOMETHING is RIPE, all right.
The Obama administration has not yet taken a position on the legislation. It is reviewing the proposal and other options before deciding how it wants to proceed. The government typically extracts payments from companies that remove energy resources from federal holdings, from Rocky Mountain mines to federal waters. Oil companies pay upfront bidding fees to obtain leases and pay taxes on profits if the leases reach production. But the biggest revenue stream to the government typically is the royalty based on the value of the oil and gas discovered.
Almost wants to make you nationalize the oil sector like so many other nations, 'eh, America? Then at least only government is ripping you off.
The court decision that suspended payment of royalties on the 1996-2000 deep-water leases was a bonanza for oil companies....
As if they needed any more.
After losing its appeal, the government began several weeks ago to refund $2 billion in royalties already paid, including $31 million to ExxonMobil and $102 million to Shell oil company. A spokesman for ExxonMobil declined to comment and officials at Shell did not respond to a request for comment.
Yeah, you taxpayers also paid the government's court costs in this losing effort.
Government officials say the loss of future royalties will have the biggest impact, estimated to be between $20 billion and $53 billion, depending on the price of oil. The leases last as long as the site is productive, which can be several decades....
The oil industry says it plans to fight efforts by Markey and others to revive royalty payments.
Dead.... dead in the Senate again!
Cathy Landry, spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, which represents many of the nation’s oil companies, said it is unfair for members of Congress to try to change the rules after the court decision.
Unless you are giving telecoms unconstitutional retro-immunity for spying on you, Americans.
“They did it at the time when prices were really low and they were trying to encourage development,’’ she said. “Maybe this was an oversight on their part, but at the time, I don’t think too many people would have thought oil prices would have gotten to $130 per barrel or $50 a barrel. But you can’t say, ‘Well, we meant this all along.’ ’’
Really?
See: Reading the Health Care Fine Print For the Little People
They just did!
Oil industry representatives stress that, aside from questions about royalty payments, the program to kick-start deep-water drilling has been a resounding success, creating thousands of jobs, spurring new technologies, and producing large amounts of oil and natural gas....
--more--"
Yup, so GET OUT there and on that RIG!
"Oil rig explodes off La.; 11 missing, 17 hurt" by Kevin McGill, Associated Press Writer | April 21, 2010
NEW ORLEANS --The Coast Guard by sea and air planned to search overnight for 11 workers missing since a thunderous explosion rocked an oil drilling platform that continued to burn late Wednesday, more than a day since it sent a fireball into the night sky.
I'm wondering why the steel didn't melt.
Seventeen people were injured, four critically. The blast Tuesday night aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig 50 miles off the Louisiana coast could prove to be one of the nation's deadliest offshore drilling accidents of the past half-century....
Authorities could not say when the flames might die out on the 400-by-250-foot rig, which is roughly twice the size of a football field. A column of boiling black smoke rose hundreds of feet over the Gulf of Mexico as fireboats shot streams of water at the blaze.
Like the smoke gushing out of the trade towers on 9/11.
Adrian Rose, vice president of Transocean, said the explosion appeared to be a blowout, in which natural gas or oil forces its way up a well pipe and smashes the equipment. But precisely what went wrong was under investigation. Crews were doing routine work before the explosion and there were no signs of trouble, Rose said....
I wonder if we will ever hear back on this investigation.
Related: Around New England: Silent Gas Under the Sheets in Connecticut
Still waiting. I read the Globe every day, and so far.... zilch.
The rig was tilting as much as 10 degrees after the blast, but earlier fears that it might topple over appeared unfounded. Officials said the damage to the environment appeared minimal so far.
Why must the instant reaction of government and industry be lying?
The rig, which was under contract to the oil giant BP, was doing exploratory drilling but was not in production, Transocean spokesman Greg Panagos said....
Makes you want to go sign up as Obama opens the waters, 'eh?
What the printed paper left on the cutting room floor:
There are 42 rigs either drilling or doing upgrades and maintenance in depths of 1,000 feet or greater in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the agency. They employ an estimated 35,000 people. Transocean has 14 rigs in the Gulf and 140 worldwide.
The deadliest offshore drilling accident took place in 1988, when an Occidental Petroleum platform about 120 miles off Aberdeen, Scotland, was rocked by explosions and fire. A total of 167 men were killed.
--more--"Webbers received this: 11 missing in huge oil rig explosion off La. coast (By Campbell Robertson, New York Times)
I didn't read it; I do not like NYT reporting.
Update:
"Burning oil rig sinks, setting stage for big spill" by Kevin McGill and Holbrook Mohr, Associated Press Writers | April 22, 2010
NEW ORLEANS --A deepwater oil platform that burned for more than a day after a massive explosion sank into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, creating the potential for a major spill as it underscored the slim chances that the 11 workers still missing survived.
So what was said above about toppling and minimal environmental threat was bull, huh?
And THIS is the REAL THREAT, readers -- not some fart-misting fraud!
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, which burned violently until the gulf itself extinguished the fire, could unleash more than 300,000 of gallons of crude a day into the water. The environmental hazards would be greatest if the spill were to reach the Louisiana coast, some 50 miles away....
Oh, THIS is a MAJOR CATASTROPHE for the GULF, and I can't help hearing a certain higher power whispering again!
As the rig burned, supply vessels shot water into it to try to keep it afloat and avoid an oil spill, but there were additional explosions Thursday.
Did someone bring it down on purpose?
Officials had previously said the environmental damage appeared minimal, but new challenges have arisen now that the platform has sunk. The well could be spilling up to 336,000 gallons of crude oil a day, Coast Guard Petty Officer Katherine McNamara said....
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said crews saw a 1-mile-by-5-mile rainbow sheen with a dark center of what appeared to be a crude oil mix on the surface of the water. She said there wasn't any evidence crude oil was coming out after the rig sank, but officials also aren't sure what's going on underwater....
Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restoration Network, said "If it gets landward, it could be a disaster in the making."
I think it ALREADY IS a DISASTER!
The well will need to be capped off underwater. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said crews were prepared for the platform to sink and had the equipment at the site to limit the environmental damage. Oil giant
The explosion is not expected to have a major impact on the oil industry....
The explosion came less than a month after President Barack Obama's decision to open portions of the East Coast to oil and gas exploration, and opponents of the move have seized on the blast as a reason to reverse course....
Crews searching for the missing workers, meanwhile, have covered the 1,940-square-mile search area by air 12 times and by boat five times. The boats searched all night....
Oh, yeah, MEANWHILE, almost forgot about them
--more--"
Besides, it's all worth it to get a glass, 'er, a barrel of oil, right?
"New oil sources could cut costs — eventually" by Chris Kahn, Associated Press | April 1, 2010
By opening parts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico to oil drilling, the Obama administration wants to tap a huge energy resource that could keep fuel costs in check.
But don’t expect gasoline prices to fall at the pumps anytime soon. The offshore areas are located along relatively pristine parts of the US Outer Continental Shelf, a new frontier for oil companies. It could take years before drillers will know how much oil can be pumped from these areas, and when....
I'd rather they never start.
Yeah, let's befoul more of nature to lubricate our oil-lusting war machine economy, America.
It is worth it isn't it, America?
So what has oil been doing on Obama's watch, anyway -- other than the tragedy in the Gulf?
"Gasoline prices seen headed over $3" by Associated Press | February 23, 2010
NEW YORK - Retail gas prices probably bottomed out last week, and they’re again headed to above $3 a gallon this summer, specialists said yesterday.
Although pump prices typically rise this time of year as refineries switch to a more expensive grade of gas, the increase is apt to frustrate many motorists. Prices are climbing even after millions of Americans received pink slips and kept their cars in the driveway.
“If you look at demand, it’s just abysmal,’’ said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service.
Which means the alleged LAW of SUPPLY and DEMAND is BROKEN, America!
What’s pushing prices higher isn’t American consumption. It’s the crude oil that’s used to make motor fuel, Rozell said. Crude is an international commodity that’s become ever more expensive as demand grows in China. As crude increases, so does gas.
This is BS for YOU, Americans. It is ALL ABOUT the DOLLAR!
Related: Earth Day: Food For Fuel
Maybe I should start saving my... never mind.
Yesterday, retail gas prices rose for the fifth straight day, adding less than a penny overnight to a new national average of $2.65 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express, and Oil Price Information. A gallon of regular unleaded is still cheaper than it was a month ago. It’s also 73.1 cents more expensive than the same time last year.
Rozell said motorists should not expect big price spikes like in 2008, when gas jumped above $4 a gallon in some places. Americans aren’t burning enough fuel to push prices that high.
Who knows how they are going to manipulate the market, and who cares what some fart-mister predicts?
"Crude price falls on economic worries" by Associated Press | February 26, 2010
Oil prices tumbled yesterday on new signs that the economy remains weak and that demand for crude is still tepid at best....
Oil prices were also pushed down yesterday by a stronger dollar and a drop in the stock market.
So when the DOLLAR GOES DOWN, OIL GOES UP because YOUR DOLLAR is WORTH LESS, America! This has NOTHING TO DO WITH SUPPLY and DEMAND (as you shall see)!
Because crude is traded in dollars, it gets cheaper when the dollar climbs and forces investors holding other currencies such as the euro to pay more for oil. The dollar was near a nine-month high against the euro over worries about economic growth and debt problems in Europe....
One wonders if Wall Street didn't cause the crisis to now try and rescue the dollar they have spent so long destroying (as their globalist plans explode in Europe).
Of course, when the dollar gets weaker OIL PRICES RISE!
Retail gasoline prices headed higher for the eighth straight day....
So much for that theory, huh?
Prices at the pump RISE ANYWAY!
Pump prices have climbed 7.9 cents over the past week and are nearly back to the levels of a month ago when they were at $2.70 per gallon. Prices remain 80.2 cents above year-ago levels.
--more--"
And what did I say about the dropping dollar?
"Oil prices top $80 on weaker dollar" by Associated Press | March 4, 2010
NEW YORK - Oil prices rose above $80 a barrel for the first time in a week as the dollar weakened and refineries increased production ahead of the busy summer driving season....
Beginning to see the connection?
"Gasoline, oil prices increase" by Clifford Krauss, New York Times | March 9, 2010
HOUSTON - Crude oil and gasoline prices are inching up again.
WTF? They HAVE BEEN for a WHILE, NYT!!
Where have you been? Head up somewhere?
Optimism about the economy, new tensions in oil-producing Nigeria, and reports that China intends to build up its strategic reserves lifted crude prices to around $82 yesterday, about a $10 increase in the last month. Prices at the pump are rising, too, with the average national price for a gallon of gasoline jumping 5 cents in the last week, to just above $2.75.
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, who estimated that consumers were paying just over $1 billion a day at the pump, about $250 million more than this time a year ago, suggested that gasoline prices would top $3 a gallon between April and June as warm weather encouraged more driving, before dropping to as low as $2.50 after the summer driving season.
I'm not going anywhere.
Oil prices peaked so far this year in early January at just under $84 a barrel. Some energy analysts say it is possible the price will break that level in the next several days. Gasoline supplies also remain ample, but prices at the pump have been rising along with oil prices....
So you can SEE their is NO CONNECTION with supply.
Gasoline prices typically go up in the spring as refiners retool and switch to more expensive summer blends of gasoline.
That is the excuse the industry and MSM give you for the obvious price manipulations!
Demand and prices were particularly low this winter because of cold and stormy weather, and specialists say they believe many drivers will be keen to take to the highway as spring blooms.
And here I went and did a whole day of Earth Day posts!
Still, high unemployment is keeping many commuters off the road.
Yup, but prices keep on rising!
NEW YORK — Oil settled above $82 yesterday after driving past $83 briefly following a government report that showed US crude oil supplies didn’t grow as much as analysts expected....
While oil prices have risen about 17 percent since early last month, crude demand in the United States, the world’s largest consumer of oil, has remained sluggish. Retail gas prices climbed again. The nationwide average rose 0.9 cents to $2.76 per gallon, according to AAA. Prices have risen 11.6 cents in the last month and are now 82.7 cents higher than levels of a year ago.
Yup, demand is sluggish and yet UP THEY GO AGAIN!
--more--"
And again!
"Crude nears $83 as inventories ease" by Associated Press | March 18, 2010
NEW YORK — Oil prices settled near $83 a barrel yesterday after crude inventories grew less than expected last week, and the stock market rose on the Fed’s promise to keep interest rates at record lows....
The Dow Jones average rose 47.69 points to close at 10,733.67. Investors were reassured by the Fed and Japan’s central bank, after both reaffirmed plans to keep interest rates low to spur the global economic recovery. Oil and gas demand are expected to increase as economies recover and businesses hire more workers.
Are you sick of hearing that broken record of recovery that isn't occurring, America? No wonder you don't read newspapers anymore.
Meanwhile, the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna has decided not to cut back production targets, sticking with levels held since December 2008.
Despite sluggish oil demand in the United States and other developed countries, oil analyst Andrew Lipow said global economic indicators support higher prices....
Not everyone thinks happy days are here again for the economy or that higher oil and gas prices can last.
“The Kool-Aid that has been offered, and apparently drunk by oil market participants is that the recession is over and the long slog back to prosperity has begun,’’ said MF Global analyst Mike Fitzpatrick in a research note....
Yeah, I passed.
Retail gasoline prices rose yesterday. The nationwide average added 2 cents at $2.789 per gallon according to AAA, Wright Express, and Oil Price Information Service. Pump prices have risen 17.3 cents in the last month and are now 87.9 cents higher than levels of a year ago....
--more--"So when does it come down, 'eh, Americans?
"US gasoline prices highest since ’08" by Associated Press | March 19, 2010
Motorists are paying the highest prices for gas since October 2008. Retail gasoline prices rose yesterday on an expected increase in demand and as more expensive spring and summer blends of gasoline make their way to the pumps.
Yeah, they DON'T EVEN BOTHER with REALITY anymore.
Oh, we THINK demand will increase so UP GO the PRICES AGAIN!
Man, are you ever getting SCREWED, America!
Your DOLLAR is DYING, and the agenda-pushing paper is KEEPING IT HIDDEN from you!
The nationwide average hit $2.799 per gallon, a penny higher than Wednesday, according to AAA, Wright Express, and Oil Price Information Service. Prices have now jumped 18.9 cents in the past month and are 87.9 cents higher than year-ago levels....
They can't even get the f***ing math right, readers (see last article above and compare)!
The Energy Department and many industry specialists expect prices to top $3 this spring.
Gasoline prices tend to move higher in the spring as more drivers hit the road and refiners shut down units for maintenance, as they prepare to make more expensive summer blends of gasoline with fewer smog-causing emissions.
There they go again with the excuses!
Wholesale gasoline prices also are at their highest point since October 2008. Americans now spend about a $1 billion a day to keep their cars and trucks filled, a rise of nearly $300 million from a year ago. With the average driver using about 50 gallons a month of fuel, the bill runs $140 per month and is expected to rise. The hit from gas prices comes as oil prices backed off their two-month highs yesterday....
--more--"
NEW YORK — Oil prices got a boost from positive economic indicators and worries about terrorist bombings in Moscow....
Related: The Return of "Al-CIA-Duh" to Russia
Either the "terrorists" have stopped or the paper is omitting what is happening there.
Ever notice that "Al-CIA-Duh" always shows up where there is OIL?
PFG analyst Phil Flynn said, “Because Russia is a major oil producer, there are fears that there could be more attacks in the future,’’ which could cramp oil supply from the country. Flynn said traders reacted emotionally and demand is still the key factor. “I think more than anything oil is going back up on increased demand expectations and basically hopes that the situation in Europe is under control,’’ he said.
Energy analyst Stephen Schork said he wasn’t surprised by the crude price jump, given the news from Moscow, the weaker dollar, and “end-of-quarter book-squaring.’’
Yeah, they didn't back off for long, did they?
Gasoline pump prices edged down slightly for motorists gearing up for Passover, Easter, and spring break road trips.
(Blog editor shakes his head from side-to-side in disbelief!)
Nationwide average retail prices shed less than a penny overnight to $2.80 a gallon. Pump prices are 9.7 cents higher than a month ago and 75.5 cents more expensive than the same time last year, according to AAA.
It never really stops rising, and how come the MSM can not add correctly?
Un-flipping-real!
--more--"
Has to come down now, right?
"Crude rises; gas prices may follow" by Associated Press | April 2, 2010
Oil prices have been stuck in a range of about $70 to $85 a barrel for months. That may be changing and it could mean higher fuel costs before long.
Crude pushed to an 18-month high yesterday. It passed $85 a barrel at one point, driven by optimism that the world will need more oil as it pulls out of the recession.
Translation: YOUR DOLLAR is DYING a SLOW DEATH, America!
Continued signals of strength in the manufacturing industry helped extend a recent rally. Oil prices have risen about 23 percent from early February as the industrial sector leads a gradual recovery in the US economy.
Where?
Some analysts are becoming worried, however, that too steep of a climb in oil prices could choke off the economic rebound.
Oh, so this is what they are going to use as an excuse the next time the numbers don't bear out their lies? Oil prices did it?
Motorists are already feeling the effects at the pump, where the average nationwide retail price of gasoline is at the highest level since October 2008 and is expected to top $3 per gallon this spring or summer. Pump prices rose half a penny to a nationwide average of $2.80 per gallon yesterday, according to AAA. Prices are up 10 cents over the past month and 75.6 cents higher than they were a year ago....
I put away the math book, sorry.
Gasoline and oil prices climbed to 18-month highs yesterday as a batch of new economic reports provided more signs the economy is back on steady footing and demand for crude will follow.
So the price is rising over SPECULATION?
That does not sound like a sound financial principle to me.
The worry now among some analysts is whether gasoline pump prices are starting to approach a level that could choke off the recovery....
See them PREPARING YOU for the DOUBLE-DIP DEPRESSION, dear readers?
Yesterday, reports on pending home sales and the service sector were better than expected. On Friday, the Labor Department said employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the largest job gain in three years.
No one listens to government lies anymore.
Oil, which has been trading between $75 and $85 a barrel for months, now appears to be in a new range that could go up to $95, according to oil trader and analyst Stephen Schork.
Translation: Your DOLLAR IS DYING, America!
When OIL GOES UP the DOLLAR is GOING DOWN!
That will push retail gasoline prices higher at a time of year when prices tend to rise anyway.
Yeah, what a "coincidence," huh?
The average price of gas in Massachusetts rose 3 cents to $2.749 a gallon in the latest weekly AAA survey, AAA Southern New England said yesterday. The average nationwide retail price for gasoline hit $2.828 per gallon yesterday, an increase of 0.2 cent, according to AAA, Wright Express, and Oil Price Information Service.
Every time I check that figure it is ALWAYS MORE (except when it dropped less than a penny)!
--more--"
And finally, finally.... !!!!
"Amid ample supplies, oil’s price falls" by Bloomberg News | April 13, 2010
DALLAS — Crude oil fell for a fourth day on skepticism that demand is strong enough to support prices above $85 a barrel.
Yes, readers, there IS NO RECOVERY!! You were BEING LIED TO AGAIN!
Oil dropped 0.7 percent in the longest stretch of declines since January. US fuel use for the four weeks ended April 2 decreased 1 percent from the period through March 26, and US crude stockpiles were 7.1 percent above their five-year average, the Energy Department said last week....
Yup, USE DECREASED but PRICES STILL ROSE!
Oil inventories are at their “highest in history,’’ said Qatar’s energy minister, Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah....
Yup, people are LITERALLY SITTING on OIL and yet YOUR PUMP PRICES KEEP RISING, America!!!
--more--"
Here's another excuse, 'er, reason why offered up by the deceiving AmeriKan MSM:
"Oil prices follow stock market higher" by Associated Press | April 21, 2010
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose more than 2 percent yesterday, rebounding from a two-week slump amid last-minute deal making on the final day of the May contract.
Specialists said prices probably won’t move much higher in the next few months, making a summertime spike in gasoline and other fuels less likely....
Oil prices have cooled off over the last two weeks. They have tumbled for eight of the past nine trading days since hitting $87 a barrel earlier this month. Analysts say the volcanic eruption in Iceland that shut down air traffic in much of Europe since last week cut demand for jet fuel.
Hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways.
A fraud case against Goldman Sachs also put a major player in commodities trading in the crosshairs of the federal government. If Goldman is forced to cut back on some of its positions in oil, it could affect the rest of the market, analyst Stephen Schork said.
Those looting thieves have destroyed the world economy!
Crude oil prices, which have followed stocks higher, are 75 percent more expensive than they were last year. Schork said investors are getting more aggressive as Wall Street rallies, and many have flocked to oil, where prices have almost tripled since their low point last year.
--more--"
So what does OPEC have to say about all this?
"OPEC seeks crackdown on speculators" by Alexander Kwiatkowski and Randall Hackley, Bloomberg News | March 23, 2010
GENEVA — Oil speculators, including traders at hedge funds and investment banks, intensify crude price volatility and need to be regulated, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said yesterday.
“Acute and excessive price speculation’’ is determining oil prices, Germanico Pinto, OPEC’s president and Ecuador’s oil minister, said at a conference in Geneva. “Prices are driven by something totally unrelated to supply and demand.’’
Yes, WE ALL KNOW!!!
OPEC agreed last week in Vienna to keep production quotas unchanged as ministers expressed contentment with oil at about $80 a barrel. While prices are “not high at all,’’ and at a level that is acceptable to producers, the market must still be regulated to avoid excessive price volatility, according to the United Arab Emirates’ oil minister, Mohamed al-Hamli....
Regulators and politicians blamed speculators for record oil prices in 2008....
The restrictions, currently in a 90-day public comment period, are designed to control risk and keep a single trader from gaining too much control of the market.
“We welcome recent proposals by the CFTC to regulate energy contracts held by hedge funds, investment banks, and other speculators,’’ Hamli said at the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s inaugural global commodities forum....
I cringe every time I see their involvement in anything now.
--more--"
While we are in the field let's do some slumming:
NEW YORK - Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s biggest oilfield services company, has agreed to purchase fellow industry player Smith International Inc. for about $11 billion in stock in a move to diversify its product offerings and better compete with Halliburton Co.
The deal, announced yesterday, boosts Schlumberger’s portfolio just as business is beginning to recover. Smith, based in Houston, makes drilling tools, bits, and other products for the oil and gas industries. Schlumberger slumped during the global recession.
Interesting choice of words, 'eh?
But oil prices have since rebounded, and the company said in its most recent earnings report in January that its business will benefit as countries burn more fuel....
Schlumberger reported profits of just over $3 billion on $22.7 billion in revenue in 2009. Smith is less than half its size but still a significant player, earning about $1 billion on revenue of $8.2 billion last year.
Who knew you could get so rich from slumming, huh?
--more--"
