Stat of the Day

Big Oil Companies Made $200,000 Every Minute in the First Quarter

Reuters
Caitlin Dickson 2,042 Views May 18, 2011

Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP America and Chevron Corp--the "Big Five" oil companies--reported a cumulative total earning of $36 billion in the first quarter of this year. As Huffington Post writer Erich Pica points out that's "more than $200,000 every minute." This jaw-dropping number has been accompanied by a hike in oil prices, which averaged out at about $3.98 per gallon for regular unleaded gas across the country. This is more than a dollar increase from the $2.90 gas stations were charging one year ago, The Associated Press reports.

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