Later this week, the CEO's of the nation's largest oil companies will appear before two Senate Committees to explain the record profits that their respective companies reported over the last few weeks. Below, I have listed the combined net profits that were reported by the 3 largest oil companies (Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConnacoPhillips). For purposes of comparison, these reported net profits go back 3 years, reported by fiscal quarter:

2003: Q1: 10 Bill, Q2: 7 Bill, Q3: 7 Bill, Q4: 9 Bill                           

2004: Q1: 9 Bill, Q2: 12 Bill, Q3: 11 Bill, Q4: 14 Bill

2005: Q1: 13 Bill, Q2: 14 Bill, Q3: 17 Bill (ending Sept.) 

Interesting comparison Q3 2004: $11 Bill net profit/ Q3 2005: $17 Billion

I pulled these numbers out of the WSJ - they are not exact, as they came from a bar chart.

Granted the increase in profits is staggering - to have a better understanding of the numbers it would be interesting to compare these profits to profits from other companies in other industries. Are the oil companies net profits/margins comparable to other industries (proportionately)? I'm sure if this is the case, we will hear about it later this week.

I also wonder if the gas prices would have dropped as rapidly as they had the past few weeks, if there wasn't a threat of an investigation?

Steve