It appears the oil and gas industry is looking to continue its decade long trend of record profits. As of February 2nd, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Shell have released their 2011 fourth quarter results—and it's no surprise, profits are still booming. Chevron raked in more than $5.1 billion in the fourth quarter, taking their 2011 annual profits to nearly $27 billion—an increase of 41% from 2010. Exxon Mobil hauled in over $9.4 Billion in the fourth quarter as well, driving their annual profits to $41 billion—an increase of 35% from 2010. This pushes Exxon’s 5-year profits to over $175 billion. Finally, Shell made more than $6.5 billion in the fourth quarter, pushing their annual profits to almost $31 billion—an increase of 54% from 2010.

BP and Total S.A. are slated to release their fourth quarter results over the next two weeks. With yearly deficits around $1.1 trillion and a national debt of more than $15 trillion, Congress must eliminate unnecessary subsidies to the lucrative oil and gas industry and allow it to pay their fair share. Look for our updated fact sheet on Big Oil, Big Profits in the coming weeks.

For more information, please contact Autumn Hanna at (202) 546-8500 x112 or autumn[at]taxpayer.net.