Oil companies aren't the most profitable companies, by a long shot. Their return on capital is lower than a lot of industries.
They have large absolute dollar profits because they are very large companies (necessary because of the enormity of the investment needed to operate profitably), and because of the huge amount of inventory they sell.
I think my company had a better return on invested capital than Mobil. We didn't make nearly as many dollars though.
Note that if you split Mobil back up into multiple companies, the "record profits" would dissappear.
You are correct.
If you scaled down the same dollars to represent the operating budget of your local Mom&Pops resturant, the resturant owners would net profit about $1000 per year.
Take the profit out of any business, and you put the business out of business.
She was calling for subsidies and bailouts when oil companies were losing money, right?
I'd like to see a break down of what the oil companies make per gallon of gas, then compare that to what the governments (Fed, State, and Local) make on that same gallon. I'd be willing to bet each form of government makes more than the oil companies do - per gallon.