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I'm predicting crude will break $200 this time next year. Perhaps Obama should win so that he can receive the fallout from it.

Goldman Sachs already made this prediction as well. I'm not sure, the bubble around oil gets more delicate the higher the price goes--it could just as easily be $70 a barrel this time next year but we'll see.

I think high oil prices are so intimately tied with the Bush administration that even if prices rise after a hypothetical Obama win--the rise won't be blamed on him.

[edit] However, I think that if McCain won and prices continued to rise--he would be blamed when you consider the republican party support for the war. Either way the Republicans lose on this issue.

Agreed - McCain needs to announce how he's going to strengthen the $ to get commodities back in check.

Their market incentive is lessened due to lower demand. We drive everywhere here and we're not giving it up. In Europe they're more likely to take the train or bicycle or some other thing that's not applicable to the suburban sprawl we have over here.

not my fault, I swear

Are our gas prices as high as they are due to refining costs, or due to the cost of crude? Maybe big oil wants you to think the latter, but until somebody explains their record profits, I'm not so sure...

Cost of crude. OPEC benefits from high prices, and so do the big oil companies. A cartel and a corporate oligopoly (with consolidated control through mergers done over the last 30 years) must invariably cause some degree of market distortion in the form of higher prices. It's also driven by speculation and big monied interests buying the contracts.

Big Mac: so, what's with Exxon's record profits?

Record oil prices. They drill for it. I hope we don't have to wait too many decades before there's a breakthrough that obviates petroleum. Of course, as the price continues to rise it provides stronger market incentive for the development of such disruptive technologies.

Any particular reason you have such a short life expectancy?

You know I just got to thinking, hasn't europe had market incentive to get away from oil for a lot longer than us? And all they've done is use diesel, make really tiny engines, and some electric cars here and there.

Europeans are accustomed to getting raped at the gas tank, apparently.

Actually I forgot Hydrogen fuel which Mercedes looked into, I believe.

That might be part of it, but I think it also speaks to the difficulty of moving away from oil. I'm of the opinion it's going to take a focused effort to get anywhere.

The market is too sluggish to do anything about it. As long as it is rolling in record profits, it really doesn't have a reason to change, either.

Certain corporations are rolling in profits, definitely, but if this trend continues indefinitely something will give eventually - either a technological shift or a second economic depression.

That's why `Europeans' have owned cars with smaller and more efficient engines for a long time. And most cities have decent public transportation.

It'll be a crash. The market doesn't look for expensive long-term solutions whilst rolling in expansive short-term profits.

Luckily, I'll probably be dead before it happens.

It's not just the Crude, it's the value of the dollar. Which is rapidly becoming toilet paper in the grand scheme of things.

Dakar, you keep saying the market is rolling in profits from high priced oil when it's not the general market enjoying high oil prices but rather oil producers. Additionally, technological progress usually comes from enterprising upstarts. Consider Tesla inventing A/C. The only thing that threatens their work (enterprising upstarts that is) is the prospect of their patents being bought by the oil interests.

Oil companies keep having record earnings, correct? Are they not the general market?

Exxon drills? I thought they were a refiner?

If you read their literature, you would think that they operate a not-for-profit, which is why their high profits definitely needs to be accounted for.

I predict crude will be $100 in a year. And no, I have nothing to back that up either.


Operating divisions

ExxonMobil is organized functionally into a number of global operating divisions. These divisions are grouped into three categories for reference purposes, though the company also has several ancillary divisions, such as Coal & Minerals, which are stand alone.

* Upstream (oil exploration, extraction, shipping, and wholesale operations) based in Houston, Texas
* Downstream (marketing, refining, and retail operations) based in Fairfax, Virginia
* Chemical division based in Houston, Texas

Operating divisions by category are as follows:

* Upstream
o ExxonMobil Exploration Company
o ExxonMobil Development Company
o ExxonMobil Production Company
o ExxonMobil Gas and Power Marketing Company
o ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company

* Downstream
o ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company
o ExxonMobil Fuels Marketing Company
o ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties Company
o ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

* Chemical
o ExxonMobil Chemical Company

* ExxonMobil Global Services Company
o ExxonMobil Information Technology
o Global Real Estate and Facilities
o Global Procurement
o Business Support Centers