Oil Doesn't Want Focus on Big Profit
Companies Stepping Up Advertising
By Frank AhrensWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 26, 2005; Page D01
Gigantic oil companies generally do not enjoy the best PR.
Pick your poison: Oil companies have caused tanker spills, proposed drilling into the Arctic wildlife ranges, crafted ties to shady nations and meddled in the affairs of others, and produced products that pollute.
As oil companies prepare to announce large quarterly profits, House Republican leaders yesterday said they need to spend more to expand the nation's refining capacity.
Now, even as high gasoline prices continue to anger motorists and aggravate financial problems at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the oil companies have begun to report record quarterly profit. Yesterday, British energy giant BP PLC reported a $6.53 billion third-quarter profit, up from $4.87 billion in the same period last year. And tomorrow, analysts expect Exxon Mobil Corp. to show that it earned nearly $9 billion over the past three months -- the largest corporate quarterly profit ever.
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