Santa Monica, CA — The Foundation For Taxpayer and Consumer Rights today called upon the White House and Congress to force ExxonMobil Corporation to invest some of it’s 75% profit increase during the third quarter in new refining capacity. ExxonMobil today reported $100.7 billion in revenue and $9.92 billion in profits, up from $5.68 billion last year.
“This astronomical increase in profits for the world’s largest oil company shows that ExxonMobil has been charging far more for gasoline that its actual production costs and needs to reinvest a healthy share of those world-record profits into desperately needed increased refining capacity,” said FTCR president Jamie Court.
“The proof of price gouging is in the profit reports. ExxonMobil knows that by making less gasoline it makes more money; now ExxonMobil needs to invest that money in making more gasoline. Neither ExxonMobil nor the industry has opened a new refinery since 1976 because the companies know keeping refined supply low is a recipe for huge profits. If the White House and Congress don’t act to force ExxonMobil to invest in refining capacity after Katrina’s lessons, the public might as well clean out that tank and refill it with new blood.”
FTCR recently released internal oil company memos showing how Mobil and other big oil companies made a decision in the 1990s to reduce refining capacity in order to increase profits. That strategy is now paying off hugely for the companies.
Click here to read the Mobil and other memos.
For more on FTCR, visit: www.ConsumerWatchdog.org
– 30 –
