Oil-industry profits

So, Exxon Mobile Corporation reported nearly $15 BILLION in quarterly profits this week. Not bad. In fact, in the history of mankind, in the history of business, since the first cavemen traded rocks and sticks, nobody anywhere in any industry has ever reported bigger profits. And whose record did Exxon break? Its own. When was the previous record reported? Last quarter. Yes, in the past six months Exxon has made over $25 BILLION for its shareholders. Not bad. And, of course, those profits are completely unrelated to the price of gas. Just ask the company. For the past year they (and every other major oil corp) been telling anyone who'll listen (using media interviews, paid lobbyists, and advertising) that there is no correlation between their industry-wide record profits and the price of gas at the pump. And all this time I thought the companies that bought, processed, distributed and sold the product had something to do with setting the price of their product. Silly me. I guess I need to take a few more business courses. In the meantime, I'm gonna go get jacked at the pump again by whoever does actually make money on gas...