This came as no shocker to me. ExxonMobil had its best EVER quarter in terms of both profits and sales. This past quarter their PROFITS were $9.92 BILLION!!! Let me write that out: $9,920,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros. In the 3rd quarter of 2004 their profits were $6.23 billion.
Hmm . . . where did they make all the money??? This year, gas prices averaged between $2.50 – $3.00 for most of the 3rd quarter compared to $1.80 – $2.00 last year. That’s 50-75% higher than last year’s prices. Pretty simple math in my head.
My point is this. I really believe that ExxonMobil profited by using the Hurricanes as an excuse to raise prices. They said that production costs would be higher, so they had to raise the price. If they were simply trying to maintain profits, that would be one thing. But when the post RECORD PROFITS & SALES, that’s a whole ‘nother story. They used a national tragedy to pad their wallets and they should pay.
I propose that we all write a letter to express our disgust with the company and our intention to NEVER buy gas from any of their gas stations again unless they do something MAJOR to apologize for what they did. To me, this is a textbook example of price gouging at its worst.
Here is their contact info:
Exxon Mobil Corp.
5959 Las Colinas Boulevard
Irving, TX 75039-2298
Phone: 972-444-1000
Fax: 972-444-1348
Web Site: http://www.exxonmobil.com
Once I’ve sent my letter, I’ll post a copy of it as well as any replies that I receive from them.