THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Expect Big Profits for Big Oil
April 28, 2008
Big Oil’s profit juggernaut shows few signs of slowing, despite the weakening of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel guzzler, the U.S. economy.
Normally, a weakening economy leads to softening demand for gasoline and crude oil as businesses and consumers cut back on driving and electricity usage. But while there are signs this is occurring, the troubled U.S. economy may actually end up contributing to bigger profits for many global oil producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Chevron Corp., which will be reporting first-quarter earnings this week.
As the value of the U.S. dollar has fallen, investors have been snapping up commodities as a hedge against inflation. That has helped drive up the price of crude oil, pumping profits higher for oil companies.
Read the report by Russell Gold and Guy Chazan:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120934422505148603.html