Ron Kind: “This is an important issue. The gentleman mentioned the profits that are currently taking place in the oil and gas…”

“This is an important issue. The gentleman mentioned the profits that are currently taking place in the oil and gas industry. It is astounding, seeing the triple-digit increase in profits in the first quarter of this year alone, 350 to 400 percent profit margins. Seven of the ten Fortune 500 companies in the entire world are oil and gas companies. In fact, if we just go through the list of the profit statements over the last fiscal year, we have ExxonMobil, for instance, with a 124 percent profit increase from the previous year; we have Chevron, with a 151 percent increase of profit last year; CONOCO, with a 156 percent increase in profit from the previous year. Yet, in the first quarter of this year alone, ExxonMobil is realizing a $5 billion profit in just the first quarter of this year. BP Amoco, BP now, is at $4 billion profit in the first quarter of this year; Chevron, a $1.6 billion profit in the first quarter of this year; CONOCO, with a $700 million profit already in just the first few months of 2001. So obviously they are making a hefty profit. They are covering their costs. They are laughing to the bank, quite frankly.”