“On April Fools’ Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil,” so said Edward J. Markey chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. In front of him sitting like peas in a pod were the executives from Exxon Mobil, Shell Oil, BP America, … Read More
Big Oil Profits
Watch Live: Congressional Hearing with Top Big Oil Executives
Its April Fool’s Day, and Congress is giving us a chance to have some fun while taking a serious look at the impact of Big Oil. Oil Change International will be watching the hearing closely, and we hope you can watch it with us! Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass), who chairs the Energy Independence and Global … Read More
BP’s Top Brass Receive Huge “Hypocritical” Pay Awards
Let’s keep those snouts in the trough. People outraged by big oil salaries will choke on the news that despite BP’s recent financial troubles, with the company reporting a 22 per cent fall in profits, its top brass earned nearly $24 million. Lord Browne of Madingley, the former chief executive of BP, earned more than … Read More
BP to Slash 5,000 Jobs as Profits Fall
In contrast to record profits at Shell and Exxon, Profits at BP, the UK’s largest company, fell 22 per cent to $17.29 billion last year. The oil giant confirmed it would cut 5,000 jobs and target a 20 per cent reduction in overheads by the middle of next year in a drive to improve profitability. … Read More
Fat Profits, But Big Oil is Shrinking
Over the next few days more oil companies will announce obscene profits. But as the headlines are taken by calls for a windfall tax, the real story is one that has been brewing for some time. Big Oil can’t find enough oil. Yesterday, despite making ÂŁ93m a day, Shell did not impressed the markets. The … Read More
Shell Makes “Obscene” Profits
Today’s stories are all about big bucks. Oil giant Shell is facing renewed accusations of profiteering after reporting record profits of $27.6bn – the highest-ever figure reported by a British company. The huge profits – equivalent to more than $3m an hour and a 9% increase on last year – will cause anger amongst Britain’s … Read More
Shell Sells Solar Businesses
Big oil’s timing is always, as ever, impeccable. Just stop and think for a moment. It’s the biggest climate meeting in a decade and you would think that big oil companies would be tripping over themselves to be seen to be green… However, last week came the news that BP was investing in dirty oil … Read More
Big Trouble for Big Oil
Business Week has picked up on a growing conundrum for the oil industry. Even as oil prices soar, earnings at Exxon, BP, and ConocoPhillips are coming back down to earth. Are lower profits here to stay? Yesterday, ExxonMobil, the world’s largest integrated oil company, reported a 10% drop in profits for the third quarter from … Read More
“Dreadful” BP Plans to Cut Jobs
Tony Hayward, BP’s fresh-faced CEO, is preparing staff for a far-reaching shake-up of the oil company as he delivered a blunt warning that third-quarter revenues would be “dreadful”. Hayward told a staff meeting in Houston he would be announcing a streamlining of the company’s organisation next month. He said that BP’s financial performance was at … Read More
Victims of Oil
The shop around the corner raised the price of sandwiches by a quarter this week. Although the housing meltdown is raising concerns that it may take the whole American economy down with it, prices are going up and the reason is the cost of oil. Oil, and therefore gas, prices remain at near-record levels. A … Read More