Does BP even have any interest in the Gulf of Mexico? If not then it's not that surprising they profited from the increase in price. Canadian Oil Sands operations are becoming more and more profitable all the time as Oil goes up.

From Big Cat Chronicles - a blogging site related to the drilling industry.

"" BP: The company announced yesterday it expects to take a $700 million loss in its third-quarter profits due to combined fury of Katrina and Rita.

The company announced for the first time in the history of the Texas City refinery, all hydrocarbon processing units and the refinery's steam generation and distribution system were put into a cold shutdown mode due to the recent hurricanes.

Winds from the storm damaged an empty product storage tank and insulation on process units and piping throughout the 1200 acre facility. Workers are repairing this damage and cleaning up any hazards posed by the damage.

Additional assessments made since the return of personnel to the plant have also revealed that the cold shutdown of the steam generation and distribution system has necessitated additional work on the refinery's steam piping network to prepare it for a safe and reliable start-up.

In upstream, BP returned the deepwater NaKika, Marlin and Mad Dog facilities to production in the Eastern Gulf. Restoration of remaining production is dependent on resumption of pipeline and onshore infrastructure. ""

Likely these operations are a result of BP's merging with Amoco.

This is a comp percentage increase in profit, not affected by sales volume, or overall dollars. This number pertains only to increased profit from selling the same gas.

Most companies shoot for a 7 or so percent comp gain per year, 3+ is acceptable. With gouging being closely monitored in our current oil situation, BP should be posting a relitively flat percentage gain (i.e they shouldnt be profitting from the inflated prices), to post a 34% gain in profit can only mean they are profiting from the inflated gas prices. If you understand how they are measuring to get that 34%, there is simply no way to earn that increase without it coming from the inflation.

For those who dont know what "comp" means, it means comparable sales. They are only measuring sales volume vs the same last year, new business or income outlets with less than a years sales history is ignored (until it has comparable sales). This is important so you understand new business and expansion is EXCLUDED from this number. So that 34% gain is a gain over basically the same volume as last year. Meaning that BP made 34% MORE this year for the same amount of gas we bought last year. Get it?

Our gas goes up a $1 a gallon due to "supply and demand", but the oil companies post a 1/3 gain in profits? Come again?

The basic principles of supply and demand mean nothing in regards to the oil industry, although they use it as an excuse, but now we know the truth.

What does this mean? It means that the gas company's can charge whatever they want regardless of supply and demand. Because we depend on gas as much as we do, we have no choice and BP is just one example of the industry controlling what we spend.



[edit on 25-10-2005 by skippytjc]

[edit on 25-10-2005 by skippytjc]