And at $3.00 a gallon, gas remains cheaper than bottled water.

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

I don't know much about Exxon, but my bet is they do a lot of commodity hedging. If they do and guess correctly, that is a good way to boost profits. A lot of companies I work with have hedged oil (particularly in the plastics industry) and it has boosted their profits from the previous year when they had not hedged. I wouldn't be surprised if this and/or currency fluctuations has played a part in their income.

Stekim made a good point about margins, 10.6% is good, but not great. My employer has 10.9%, some of my customers are in the 20's or even 30's. Sonus Networks was in the 30's at one time. Tax preparers like H&R Block have margins in the 30's. Point being oil companies aren't making "exorbitant" returns.

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All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.

You know, I don't care much for hedging. It's great when it works in your favor, but I've seen some people take a bath. I didn't have time to get behind the Exxon numbers. Too much like work!

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

I have seen people get burned as well, I think it can work if you have good people. My employer does an excellent job of hedging in the plastics group. But we've been doing it for decades. Where I see people get hurt is when they say "hey, I'll give this hedging think a try" when they don't have good people. I've done fx hedges myself and like those personally. It isn't that hard to do once you get the hang of it, kind of like stock trading.

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All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.