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TORONTO (Reuters) - Petro-Canada , the country's No. 4 oil producer and refiner, said on Tuesday that first-quarter profit jumped 82 percent, helped by surging oil prices and the settlement of a derivative contract late last year.

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The company, known for operations in Canada, the North Sea and North Africa, earned C$1.08 billion, or C$2.22 a share, up from C$590 million, or C$1.19 a share, a year earlier.


Operating earnings, which exclude one-time gains and charges, rose to C$899 million, or C$1.86 a share, from C$580 million, or C$1.17 a share.


Analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates had on average expected earnings per share of C$1.35.


Cash flow, a glimpse into an oil company's ability to fund projects, was C$1.85 billion, or C$3.83 a share, up from C$1.17 billion, or C$2.35 a share.


Petro-Canada and its rivals have reaped rewards from oil prices that averaged a record $97.82 a barrel in the quarter, up more than two-thirds from the year before.


Crude has recently climbed even higher to flirt with $120 a barrel.


Petro-Canada said it also had benefited from the settlement of its Buzzard derivative contracts in the fourth quarter. But it also posted losses on foreign currency translation of long-term debt and lower gains on asset sales.


The company produced an average 427,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, up 5.4 percent from 405,000 barrels last year.


Looking ahead, Petro-Canada said it expected to complete the conversion of the Edmonton refinery to process lower-cost, oil sands-based feedstock, with start-up planned for the fourth quarter, and to make final investment decisions on the Fort Hills mine and upgrader and Montreal coker projects.


I would have liked to drive to my sister's this evening, but the gas is so expensive I could not afford to go. There is no transit nearby. It really irks me that when there are so many of us out there who are struggling that the oil companies just keep on gouging us. As you can see by the article, they are making huge profits. I think it is almost time to get rid of my car and replace it with a scooter. I can't afford to fill up the gas tank anymore.

The word revolution scares a lot of people. This I do not understand. The common people of the world are at the hands of the government, people that, for the most part, they ELECTED. It is due to our own passivity concerning politics that we are being pushed around like we're subjects.

A people should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of its people. You wanna change something in the world today, lobbying isn't going to do it. There are too many lobbyists as it is. Lobbyists are one of the reasons why the economies are going poorly.

If you don't like the way things are going, you can either get involved in local politics and urge other like-minded people to do so as well, you can whine about it all and resolve to do nothing whatsoever like most of the populace, or you can take up 'arms' and make a really, really big stink about it until the heads of government are replaced and cowering in fear.

Let the oil companies get greedy. That's the beauty of alternative fuel sources. In the end, they're only hurting themselves, because one day they'll push the people over the point of "enough is enough."

It's not Shell and Exxon determining gas prices.

It's the market and OPEC.

Gas prices do suck but everyone out there that deals with oil for a living is out to make a profit. From OPEC to the oil companies to gas stations and individual investors, it's all for profits and high rates of return. Gotta love capital markets.

There are profits and then there is gouging. We are being gouged.

Here is one view of the problems in Canada.



A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country. ~~~ Well, there's a very simple answer. ~~~ Nobody bothered to check the oil. ~~~ We just didn't know we were getting low. ~~~ The reason for that is purely geographical. ~~~ Our OIL is located in ~~~ ALBERTA~ BRITISH COLUMBIA~MANITOBA~~~ COASTAL NOVA SCOTIA ~~~ COASTAL LABRADOUR~~~
Our DIPSTICKS Are located in OTTAWA ,ONT.!!!
Any Questions??? NO? Didn't think So.

blues2cruise wrote:There are profits and then there is gouging. We are being gouged.

How do you support such a claim?

ExxonMobil's record $39.5 billion profit isn't gouging: they made less than a 10% return on their investments.

Investors, oil companies and OPEC will all gouge the poop out of us if they can. The more cash they can squeeze out of customers on a commodity like gas, the better. The phrase, "It's nothing personal, it's just business" applies.

Skier wrote:ExxonMobil's record $39.5 billion profit isn't gouging: they made less than a 10% return on their investments.

Ding ding ding. This is what I'm getting at.

10% of $100/barrel oil is more than 10% of $50/barrel oil... and it's not Exxon deciding on the price of oil. Oil is a commodity and the market decides.

jonnythan wrote:

blues2cruise wrote:There are profits and then there is gouging. We are being gouged.

How do you support such a claim?

What else would you call it when gas goes up at the pump for a few days in a row, but yet there has been no new fuel delivery?

They paid x amount of $$ for what they have in stock and yet they charge an inflated xxxxx amount of $$ even though the stock didn't come in at a higher price.

If it keeps on this way, it will be just another thing to add to the upcoming recession that is forecasted.
If people can't afford the fuel, they won't be buying new vehicles, and then automakers will be laying off workers and closing down plants.

If fuel costs keep escalating and the price keeps getting added on to the cost of a plane ticket or a ferry ride, more and more people will start staying closer to home. Tourism (which is a huge money making industry), will suffer. No tourists=no jobs.


Those are just simplified examples....but you get the picture.