Buoyed by soaring crude oil prices, Exxon Mobil announced yesterday that it set new records for U.S. quarterly and annual corporate profits in 2007, and Chevron, the nation’s second-largest oil company, also reported big gains in earnings.
Exxon broke the record it previously had set for profits by a U.S. corporation, earning $40.6 billion last year. It earned $11.7 billion in the fourth quarter, or $2.13 a share, up 14 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. Revenue for the quarter rose 30 percent, to $116.64 billion. Exxon’s profit for the year came to $4.6 million an hour.
Chevron said its profit rose 29 percent, to $4.9 billion, or $2.32 a share. Chevron’s quarterly revenue grew 29 percent, to $61.41 billion. Profits of the five biggest international oil companies have tripled since 2002.
Kenneth P. Cohen, Exxon Mobil’s vice president for public affairs, said the earnings reflected the company’s “long-term, disciplined approach” and investments made a decade ago when oil prices were low.
Does that make you mad? You’re not alone.