Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Oil Quiz

1. ExxonMobil produces 2 million barrels of oil per day of worldwide.  In addition to its own production, Exxon also purchases crude oil at the market rate for its global refining network.  How much oil does Exxon buy every day at the prevailing market rate?
a. 500,000 barrels
b. 1 million barrels
c. 3 million barrels
d. 5 million barrels

2. Local, state and federal gasoline taxes average roughly 49 cents per gallon nationally, and are as high as 67 cents per gallon in California and New York.  What amount of profit does ExxonMobil earn per gallon of gasoline sold? 
a. 65 cents per gallon
b. 45 cents per gallon
c. 25 cents per gallon
d. 8 cents per gallon 

3. More than 75% of ExxonMobil’s operating earnings come from outside the United States. What percent of ExxonMobil's workforce is based in the United States?
a.  20%
b. 40%
c. 60%
d. 80% 

4. ExxonMobil is the world’s largest publicly traded oil company. What percent of the world’s oil reserves does it actually control?
a. Less than 1 percent
b. 2 percent
c. 5 percent
d. 10 percent 

5. What percent of the world's oil reserves does America's "Big Oil" companies control?
a. 3 percent
b. 6 percent
c. 12 percent
d. 18 percent 

6. In the first half of 2011, ExxonMobil paid $6.7 billion in tax expenses in the U.S. What were ExxonMobil's operating earnings for that period? 
a. $20 billion
b. $7 billion
c. $5.5 billion
d. $3.5 billion

Find the answers here.

4 Comments:

At 10/27/2011 5:34 AM, Blogger rjs said...

The graph here shows the liquids production of the three largest international oil companies (IOCs), as compiled from their annual reports. You can see that by and large these companies are about the same size they were 15 years ago, in oil production terms (the partial exception is BP which managed to buy into a Russian oil company half way through the last decade). The big IOCs have not been able to increase production much in response to the high prices of the last six or seven years.

It's important to note of course that since the 1980s most oil is not produced by IOCs but rather by the various national oil companies. Also it's worth noting that IOC revenues and profits have grown enormously over the last 15 years as oil prices have increased so much - they are basically selling roughly the same sized stream of liquids for far more money.

 
At 10/27/2011 8:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought there'd be an answer key I could look at quickly--no such luck! Well, for those of you on a time budget, it's:

1) D
2) D
3) B
4) A
5) B
6) C

 
At 10/27/2011 11:13 PM, Blogger Tom Catino said...

Net income for this quarter over $10 BILLION...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/business/global/shell-earnings-double-in-third-quarter.html

 
At 10/31/2011 12:36 PM, Blogger Nitin said...

informative post, important to get the real message out there against the bullhorn of vested interests. also, thanks to 'moneyjihad' for the answer key.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home