By the Numbers

On Wednesday, the Bush administration celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That act provided $14.5 billion in tax breaks to energy firms, nearly 60 percent of which went to “oil, natural gas, coal, electric utilities and nuclear power."

Also on Wednesday, the Senate rejected an effort to halt debate on opening a portion of Florida's coast to oil and gas drilling. The Senate is expected to give its final approval to sell oil and gas leases in the eastern Gulf of Mexico early next week.

Despite the bipartisan 86-12 vote to move the bill forward, the issue sparked a furious debate between Democrats and Republicans over the future of America's energy policy. Republicans brought up the Energy Policy Act of 2005 -- saying it has been good for our country. Republican members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee even issued a news release touting the benefits of the "Energy Policy Act of 2005 -- By the Numbers."

Below the fold is an alternative look at the Energy Policy Act of 2005 -- By the Numbers.

$1,318 -- amount of profit PER SECOND ExxonMobil made in the second quarter of 2006

$10.4 billion -- amount of total profit ExxonMobil made in the second quarter of 2006, the second biggest profit ever reported by a U.S. company

$10.7 billion -- amount of profit Exxon made in the fourth quarter of 2005, the biggest profit ever reported by a U.S. company

$398 million -- value of the retirement package ExxonMobil gave its outgoing CEO Lee Raymond at the end of 2005

36 -- percent increase in second-quarter net profit from 2005 for ExxonMobil

40 -- percent increase in second-quarter net profit from 2005 for Royal Dutch Shell PLC (to $7.32 billion)

30 -- percent increase in second-quarter net profit from 2005 for BP PLC (to $7.3 billion)

65 -- percent increase in second-quarter net profit from 2005 for ConocoPhillips (to $5.18 billion)

$3.006 -- national average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reported by AAA Fuel Gauge on July 27, 2006

$3.057 -- highest recorded average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reported by AAA Fuel Gauge on Sept. 5, 2005 (the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed on July 26, 2005)

$2.14 -- national average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on July 24, 2005

40 -- one year percentage increase in the national average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline

6 billion -- number of shares of ExxonMobil stock outstanding

50 -- approximate percent of those shares institutionally owned (401K's and others)

9 -- approximate number of institutionally-owned ExxonMobil stock shares per US citizen

$9 -- increase in value per share of ExxonMobil stock over the past 12 months

$81 -- amount each US citizen would have received for 9 shares of ExxonMobil stock

500 -- number of gallons of gasoline average American uses each year

$430 -- increase in cost of those gallons from one year ago


In his floor speech on Wednesday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) said, "We are reminded by all the American people who will ask when the sun sets on the Capitol tonight – what did the United States Senate do [to] relieve the burden on working Americans?"

Examining the second-quarter oil company profits and the price of gasoline provides an answer -- not much.