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As oil profits rise, so do tempers

The huge profits reported by oil companies don't sit right with motorists who feel squeezed by higher gasoline prices.

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published October 29, 2005

Pam Gagner's blood boiled when she learned that oil company profits skyrocketed higher than gas prices in the past quarter.

"These oil companies really s---," said the St. Petersburg retiree, who lives on a fixed income. "Here we've cut our lifestyle in half because of high energy prices, and then they pull this! It's way past time the government did something."

Gagner and her husband, Tom, have decided to trade in their gas-guzzling Chrysler Fifth Avenue and Cadillac Escalade. They've dramatically cut back on trips to visit relatives in Lake City because the gas alone cost $40. They reduced their bingo hall visits to once a week. They leave the water heater unplugged until it's time to wash the dishes or shower.

In contrast, ExxonMobil's and Royal Dutch Shell's quarterly profits each topped a record $9-billion after rising 75 percent and 68 percent, respectively, compared with the same quarter a year ago. Exxon earned almost as much in three months ($9.92-billion) as Wal-Mart did in all of 2004 ($10-billion). Other big oil companies have been reporting similar gains and defending their one-time earnings bonanza.

As a handful of congressional leaders called for hearings into surging oil company profits, they received a ringing endorsement from a half-dozen randomly interviewed Tampa Bay area residents Friday.

"Those numbers are just way out of line," said Rusty Levins, who manages a Pinellas Park Dollar General store. "I've never been for regulating profits before, but it's time. Gas is a necessity today."

"Just obscene," said Shannon Sago, a 28-year-old St. Petersburg College student.

Evelyn Kelner, a St. Petersburg retiree, suggested, "Somebody in the government had better start looking out for the little guy."

Angel Murgado, a 31-year-old Miami small business owner in town to see his mother-in-law, speculated that any time "there's that many billions involved, you know it didn't happen by coincidence."

Murgado said he recently decided to sell his trucking fleet because he couldn't pass rising fuel costs on to customers. "I support my president," he said, "but it's time the government step in."

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or 727 893-8252.

[Last modified October 29, 2005, 02:02:45]