Sell grass--make $37 billion

At Exxon Mobil, a Record Profit, but no Fanfare

The Times: Exxon Mobil, aided by strong energy prices, disclosed Monday that it had set a record for profits among American companies, reporting $36 billion in annual income. ...

Exxon Mobil's results on Monday, of course, caused jaws to drop; by some measures, the company became richer than some of the world's most pivotal oil-producing nations. Exxon Mobil reported a 27 percent surge in profit for the fourth quarter as elevated fuel prices gave rise to a full-year profit in 2005 of $36.13 billion on revenue of $371 billion. Exxon Mobil said its overall profit climbed more than 40 percent last year, while its tax bill rose only 14 percent. ...

In one measure of Exxon Mobil's wealth and influence, its revenue of $371 billion surpassed the $245 billion gross domestic product of Indonesia, an OPEC member and the world's fourth most populous country, with 242 million people.

Of course, the story's not complete without:

The Associated Press: President Bush defended the huge profits of Exxon Mobil Corp. Wednesday, saying they are simply the result of the marketplace and that consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks. ...

Bush, a former Texas oilman, said of oil costs, "I think that basically the price is determined by the marketplace and that's the way it should be."

"I believe in a relatively quick period of time, within my lifetime, we'll be able to reduce if not end dependence on Middle Eastern oil by this new technology" of converting corn, wood, grasses and other products into ethanol, he said.

Uh... ok. Anway, let's do some comparisons. Exxon Mobil's $371 billion in operating revenue not only is larger than Indonesia's GNP, but working off a World Bank list, also that of every other country in the world, except for: the U.S., Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, China, Spain, Canada, India, South Korea, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Russia, and the Netherlands.

That's right--Exxon Mobil's 'economy' is bigger than Belgium, Sweden, Turkey, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Denmark, Poland, South Africa, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Iran, Argentina, Malayasia, and Israel.

Even just Exxon Mobil's 2005 profit--$36.3 billion--is larger than the economy of every country outside the top 60; so places like Croatia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Ecuador, Libya, Tunisia, Guatamala, and Bulgaria.

Sheesh. Maybe Exxon-Mobil should be allowed to enter the Olympics; or the UN. It looks like it's already got an ambassador.

Flag of the Netherlands via the CIA's World Factbook.