Instead the ma$$ media mouthpiece is complaining?
"Exxon Mobil says its profit is flat" by Clifford Krauss | New York Times, April 26, 2013
HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil Corp. reported a virtually flat profit for the first quarter Thursday, with strong earnings on its chemical business partly compensating for declines in exploration, production, refining, and marketing.
Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported net income of $9.5 billion....
Overall gas and oil production volumes fell, although that trend is expected to reverse by the end of the year because of the imminent startup of the Kearl oil sands project in western Canada.
The company’s total production has barely budged since 2002, despite some major acquisitions, as a result of declines in older fields and the difficulty of exploring for new fields in a world where most oil is now controlled by national oil companies. Exxon Mobil has tried to pivot from oil to natural gas in recent years, but a supply glut and lower prices in the United States have cut into profits.
Yeah, poor Exxon!
Exxon Mobil has been struggling to keep its dominant position by investing heavily in large oil sands and liquefied natural gas projects, which are expensive but not prone to the declining production of more traditional oil fields. Large oil and gas projects are scheduled to come on line over the next five years in Kazakhstan, Angola, and Nigeria.
With an eye to the future, the company put a positive light on the earnings....
$9.5 billion was somehow a negative?
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And US gas prices have risen for over 30 days consecutively to a four-month high? That's not flat.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Taken For Granted
All of a sudden that $ettlement doesn't seem like very much.
