Chevron's Huge Profits

I thought it was interesting to see the announcement of Chevron's record profits in light of their threats to cut oil production if Prop 87 passes. I thought that was an idle threat to scare voters from voting for 87, and this US News Wire release sums up my thoughts on that issue.

"Chevron's shareholders would horsewhip any Chevron executive who cut production in a fit of pique over a fee of one-tenth of one percent on its overall profits," said Judy Dugan, research director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Chevron's threat, given that every barrel of oil the company pumps in California would still yield 63% profit after the prop 87 fee, is rubbish." See California crude oil profit chart at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/rp/6994.pdf Under Proposition 87, the extraction fee would decline if the world price of oil fell sharply, FTCR noted.

"When Californians see the Chevron ads against Prop 87, they should remember that this summer Chevron charged Californians hundreds of millions of dollars more for gasoline than other drivers around the country--and picked our pockets to bank their largest quarterly profits," said Dugan.