The Associated Press
Five of the world’s largest energy companies are expected to report combined second-quarter profits next week of more than $30 billion, a bounty fueled by worldwide economic growth and political instability that helped keep oil above $70 a barrel.
The oil industry is braced for a backlash in Washington, where elected officials are concerned about constituents in many parts of the country paying more than $3 a gallon at the pump. But some analysts say companies could face less criticism than usual given the attention focused on Middle East violence.
Whatever the political fallout, the industry has done right by Wall Street’s standards. The five oil behemoths releasing quarterly results next week – BP PLC, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC – earned an estimated $33.6 billion, or 32 percent more than a year earlier, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
World oil prices that rose 33 percent, on average, helped drive the earnings growth. On Friday, U.S.-benchmark crude-oil futures were above $74 a barrel as traders nervously eyed an expected Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The market fears that the fighting could draw Iran, a key oil producer and supporter of Hezbollah, into the conflict.
BP PLC will be the first major oil company to report second-quarter results. The London-based company is expected to reveal Tuesday the weakest year-on-year performance among its peers, weighed down by the loss of output from a massive offshore platform damaged by last summer’s hurricanes, and lost production and repair costs associated with a deadly explosion last year at a Texas refinery.
Even so, BP could post net income of $6.3 billion, or 11 percent more than a year earlier, analysts say – showing just how effective soaring oil and gasoline prices can be at masking operational difficulties.
Energy consumers deserve credit too; the industry benefited from a global fuel appetite that just wouldn’t quit. The International Energy Agency estimates that world oil demand averaged 82.4 million barrels per day in the second quarter, or 1.5 percent above the prior year, generating more than $500 billion for petroleum producers. That’s roughly equivalent to the annual gross domestic product of South Africa.
Of course, the cash register rings more than once for integrated oil companies, and refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel and heating oil turned out to be a blockbuster business segment for them this spring.
The average profit margin from refining was $19.10 per barrel of crude, or 60 percent higher than a year ago, according to J.P. Morgan. Independent refiners such as Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., which report their second quarter results in early August, were the greatest beneficiaries of this trend.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
