Given that all 6 Republicans on the US Deficit Reduction Super-Committee have adamantly refused to eliminate the massive Tax Subsidies granted to Big Oil, I think that all the 99%, including small businesses, can do is to take it in their own hands, and boycott at the gas pump, as best they can, the 4 Big Oil That Rule: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP.
And since high energy prices are causing such a severe global economic problem, I think 99%ers around the world should boycott at the gas pump these 4 Big Oil Giants.
US Big Oil is devastating the 99%ers, including small businesses, with their sky high pricing. And this steep pricing is occurring despite the Big Oil Corps generating back to back years of monstrous Pretax Earnings growth, and despite the fact that they are receiving all of these massive Tax Subsidies to boot.
It's not right.....and it's not even close to being right.
Let me show the magnitude of Big Oil profits. I am including Shell and BP, because even though they are both foreign-owned, they have substantial operations in the US.
Below here are the 24 US Big Corps with Pretax Income(PTI) of at least $9 bil for either the first 9 months 2011 or the first 9 months 2010.
..............................................PTI...........PTI...........Increase
.............................................First.........First.........(Decrease)
............................................9 Mos.......9 Mos.........................
.............................................2011........2010.......Amount......%
.................................................(millions of dollars)
4 Big Oil That Rule
Exxon Mobil...................56,216......37,632......18,584....49%
Royal Dutch Shell.........43,855......24,083......19,772....82%
Chevron.........................37,669......23,289.......14,380....62%
BP(1)................................27,352......26,511............841.......3%
Total 4 Big Oil That Rule...165,092....111,515......53,577....48%
Next 20 Largest Corps
Apple..............................26,242......13,782......12,460....90%
JPMorgan Chase...............22,002......17,847........4,155.....23%
Microsoft..........................19,650......18,595........1,055.......6%
Wells Fargo.......................17,599......13,836........3,763.....27%
Conoco Phillips.............17,168......15,458........1,710......11%
Walmart(2).......................16,526......16,066...........460.......3%
ATT..................................16,406......16,691..........(285).....(2)%
GE....................................15,622......10,545........5,077.....48%
IBM..................................13,729......12,767..........962.......8%
Citigroup..........................13,535......12,124.........1,411.....12%
Intel.................................13,194......11,882.........1,312.....11%
Verizon............................12,285........6,684........5,601.....84%
JNJ..................................12,043......14,719.......(2,676)...(18)%
Procter & Gamble.............10,941......10,661...........280.......3%
Berkshire Hathaway.........10,862......12,570.......(1,708)...(14)%
Pfizer...............................10,469........8,489........1,980.....23%
Phillips Morris Intl............9,783........7,797........1,986.....25%
Oracle(3)...........................9,440........6,452........2,988.....46%
Coca Cola..........................9,228........8,002........1,226.....15%
Goldman Sachs..................4,922........9,418.......(4,496)...(48)%
Total Next 20................281,646....244,385.......37,261.....15%
Total all 24....................446,738....355,900.......90,838.....26%
(1) BP 2010 PTI above excludes the huge Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Charges.
(2) Walmart PTI amounts are for the 9 months ended October 31st.
(3) Oracle PTI amounts are for the 9 months ended August 31st.
Yeah, that's right, the 4 Oil Corps that dominate all have higher Pretax Income in the first 9 months of 2011 than any other US Corp, with the widely revered Apple in the #5 spot, but still more than $1 bil below the bottom of the 4 Big Oil Giants.
And the Total Pretax Income for the first 9 months 2011 of these 4 Big Oil Corps comprised 37% of the Total Pretax Income of the 24 Largest US Corps.
Further, when you also include ConocoPhillips, which is #9 on the above list of the 24 largest US Corps, the 5 largest Oil Corps comprised 41% of the Total Pretax Income of the 24 Largest US Corps.
And these 4 Giant Oil Corps generated total Pretax Income of $165.1 bil in the first 9 months of 2011, which was a gigantic increase of 48% over that of the first 9 months of 2010. In comparison, the next 20 largest US Corps generated a Total Pretax Income increase of a dramatically lower 15% in the first 9 months of 2011.
And the 48% Pretax Earnings growth of these 4 Giant Big Oil Corps in the first 9 months of 2011 are on top of an even higher earnings growth of 57% in annual 2010 over 2009, as you can see below.
...............................................................................Increase
................................................PTI...........PTI........(Decrease)
..............................................Annual.....Annual..................
...............................................2010.......2009......Amount.....%
.................................................(millions of dollars)
4 Big Oil That Rule
Exxon Mobil.....................52,959....34,777.....18,182....52%
BP(1)...................................36,110.....25,124.....10,986....44%
Royal Dutch Shell............35,344....21,020.....14,324....68%
Chevron............................32,055....18,528.....13,527....73%
Total 4 Big Oil That Rule......156,468....99,449.....57,019....57%
Next 20 Largest Corps
Microsoft(2)........................25,013.....19,821........5,192.....26%
JPMorgan Chase..................24,859.....16,067.......8,792.....55%
Walmart(3)..........................23,538.....22,118........1,420.......6%
ConocoPhillips....................19,750.......9,582......10,168....106%
IBM.....................................19,723.....18,138........1,585.......9%
Berkshire Hathaway.............19,051.....11,552.......7,499.....65%
Wells Fargo..........................19,001.....17,998.......1,003.......6%
Apple(4)..............................18,540.....12,066.......6,474.....54%
ATT.....................................18,238.....18,518.........(280).....(2)%
JNJ.....................................16,947.....15,755........1,192.......8%
Intel...................................16,045.......5,704......10,341....181%
Procter & Gamble(2)...........15,047.....14,413...........634.......4%
Coca Cola............................14,243.......8,946........5,297.....59%
GE.......................................14,208.......9,995........4,213.....42%
Citigroup............................13,184......(7,799).....20,983....269%
Goldman Sachs...................12,892.....19,829........(6,937)...(35)%
Verizon..............................12,684.....13,520..........(836).....(6)%
Phillips Morris Intl.............10,324.......9,243.........1,081.....12%
Pfizer...................................9,422.....10,827........(1,405)....(13)%
Oracle(5).............................8,243.......7,834...........409.......5%
Total Next 20..................330,952....254,127......76,825.....30%
Total all 24.....................487,420....353,576.....133,844.....38%
(1) BP 2010 PTI above excludes the huge Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Charges.
(2) Microsoft and Procter & Gamble PTI amounts are for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2010 and 2009.
(3) Walmart PTI amounts are for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2011 and 2010.
(4) Apple PTI amounts are for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009.
(5) Oracle PTI amounts are for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2010 and 2009.
How many 99%ers, including small businesses, had their earnings in both 2011 and 2010 increase annually in the range of 48% to 57% per year, like the 4 Giant Oil Corps did? My guess is substantially less than 1% of them.
But it's not just a most recent two year thing. The earnings of these 4 Big Oil Corps grew dramatically during the four-year period from 2002 to 2006, in the heart of the very Big-Oil-friendly, laissez faire, pretty much regulation free Bush/Cheney Presidency, as you can see from the following Pretax Income(PTI)chart.
.................................................Royal...................
................Exxon.......................Dutch.......................Total
................Mobil.....Chevron......Shell.........BP............All 4
.................PTI...........PTI...........PTI..........PTI...........PTI
……………..........(millions of US dollars)...............................
2002.....17,510........4,100.....17,447.....11,189......50,246
2003.....31,966......12,676.....21,772.....17,731......84,145
2004.....41,241......20,551.....31,659......24,966....118,417
2005.....59,432.....25,197.....44,567......31,421....160,617
2006....67,402......31,976.....44,628......35,142....179,148
Yeah, that's right, the Total Pretax Income of these 4 Big Oil Giants was $179.1 bil in 2006, or 3.6 times the Total Pretax Income of only 4 years earlier in 2002 of $50.2 bil. In comparison, Average Annual Domestic Crude Oil Prices in 2006 were $58.30 ber barrel, which was a lower 2.6 times such Crude Oil Prices in 2002 of $22.81. That's what I call Big Oil greedily, unconscionably, and unnecessarily piling on the profits on the backs of the 99%ers, including those engaged in all Non-Oil and Gas Businesses.
How many 99%ers, including small businesses, had their earnings in 2006 that were at least 3.6 times that earned in 2002, only 4 years earlier? My guess is much less than 1% of them.
Just what were Oil Prices during the entire Bush/Cheney Presidential Years? Well, the Average Annual Domestic Crude Oil Prices in the last year of their Presidency, or in 2008, was $91.48 ber barrel, an amazingly high 4.0 times such Crude Oil Prices in the first year of their Presidency, or in 2001, of $23.00 per barrel.
How have Oil Prices fared in the Obama Administration? Well, the Average Annual Domestic Crude Oil Prices are actually down some from $91.48 per barrel in 2008 to $86.84 so far in 2011. Clearly, Big Oil will do anything it can to remove President Obama from office. All of the Republican Presidential Candidates are strong supporters of Big Oil, despite their devastation to the US economy and to the 99%ers.
And below here is the Pretax Income for the first 9 months of 2011, in comparison to the first 9 months of 2010, of all 29 US Big Oil Corps with Pretax Income or Pretax Loss of at least $1 bil in either of these two periods.
..............................................PTI...........PTI..........Increase
.............................................First........First.........(Decrease)
.............................................9 Mos......9 Mos..................
..............................................2011.......2010.....Amount......%
.................................................(millions of dollars)
4 Big Oil That Rule
Exxon Mobil..................56,216.....37,632......18,584.....49%
Royal Dutch Shell.........43,855.....24,083.....19,772.....82%
Chevron.........................37,669.....23,289......14,380.....62%
BP....................................27,352.....26,511...........841.......3%
Total 4 Big Oil That Rule...165,092....111,515......53,577.....48%
Next 25 Largest Big Oil
ConocoPhillips..............17,168.....15,458........1,710.....11%
Oxy Petroleum................8,251.......5,812........2,439.....42%
Apache................................6,152.......3,938........2,214.....56%
Schlumberger......................4,453.......3,822...........631.....17%
Marathon Petroleum............3,899.........662........3,237....489%
Devon Energy......................3,496......2,900...........596.....21%
Valero Energy.....................3,229.......1,164........2,065....177%
Marathon Oil.......................3,209.......3,216.............(7)......0%
Halliburton.........................3,095.......1,745........1,350.....77%
Hess....................................2,659.......2,954.........(295)....(10)%
Chesapeake Energy.............2,081.......2,520.........(439)....(17)%
Natl Oilwell Varco...............2,079......1,774...........305.....17%
Baker Hughes......................1,870.........762.........1,108....145%
EOG Resources....................1,668.........268.........1,400....522%
Murphy Oil..........................1,451......1,102............349.....32%
Enterprise Products LP.......1,389.......1,115............274.....25%
Spectra Energy...................1,319.......1,013............306.....30%
HollyFrontier.....................1,290.........163..........1,127....691%
Williams Companies...........1,233......(1,284)........2,517....196%
Noble Energy.....................1,185..........962............223.....23%
Tesoro...............................1,096..........(38).........1,134....2984%
Anadarko Petroleum(1)......1,064.......1,352..........(288)....(21)%
Diamond Offshore.................976.......1,026............(50).....(5)%
Transocean Ltd.....................536.......2,126........(1,590)...(75)%
El Paso Corp.........................109........1,131........(1,022)...(90)%
Total all 25 Next Largest.74,957.....55,663........19,294.....35%
(1) Anadarko Petroleum 2011 PTI excludes large Deepwater Horizon Settlement and Related Costs.
Look at the incredibly wide gap between the Pretax Income of the lowest of the Big 4 Oil Giants BP, which has Pretax Income which is more than $10 bil higher than #5 ConocoPhillips.
And then look also at the incredibly wide gap of nearly $9 bil between #5 Big Oil ConocoPhillips and #6 Big Oil Occidental Petroleum.
A very positive development in Big Oil Land is that ConocoPhillips has decided to break itself up and that Marathon has already done so. But not the Ruling Big 4 Oil Corps. They just want to see their total profits keep rocketing skyward, despite the devastating economic harm to the 99%ers.
Given how the 4 Big Oil Corps dominate in the US, while earning these absolutely obscene profits for so many years, I think it would be wise for the 99%ers to boycott, as best they can, just the Big 4 Oil Giants: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP.
Big Oil controls all of the Republicans in the US Congress, and even some of the Democrats. But it has to frustrate them that they cannot control the Occupy Movement.
Given that the Republicans in the US Congress continue to stop all of the wise Obama Administration attempts to strengthen the economic status of the 99%ers, I can think of no more effective initiative than for concerned 99%ers to boycott at the gas pump, starting during the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday period, and continuing to build from there, these 4 Big Oil Giants, who are greedily destroying the fabric of the US Democracy.
It might be a little inconvenient at times to find another gas station, but it is the right thing to do for the sake of the entire country's economic future.
