Exxon, the world's biggest nongovernmental oil company, reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, in spite of fourth-quarter earnings dropping 33 percent from a year ago.

The profit was largely due to soaring oil prices, which reached nearly $150 a barrel in July before dropping around 70 percent in the second half of the year amid the growing global economic crisis.

British energy major BP says its second-quarter net profit has slumped 53 per cent to $US4.39 billion ($5.3 billion) due to falling oil prices and despite higher output.

Stripping out oil inventories held, net profit was also down 53 per cent to $US3.14 billion in the three months to the end of June, BP said in a results statement.

That compared with $US6.75 billion in the same period of 2008 when oil had struck record highs above $US147 per barrel.

Prices have since tumbled in the global slowdown but in recent weeks have come of their lows to trade close to $US69.

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Please do not forget that these are QUARTERLY figures... see toon at top.

A film released this week in Britain recounts the 16-year battle by Ecuadorians for damages against Chevron for oil pollution

It's barely eight in the morning and already the dusty oil town of Lago Agrio, on the fringes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is sweltering. Its name means "sour lake" in Spanish, after the hometown of Texan oil company Texaco – a fitting name for an area of once-pristine rainforest that has been decimated in the pursuit of oil. So severe is the environmental damage here that experts have called it an "Amazon Chernobyl".

But the people of Lago Agrio and its surrounding area have been fighting back. Sixteen years ago, 30,000 Ecuadorians began legal action against the US oil company – now owned by Chevron – they hold responsible. Early this year, from the town's tiny courtroom, a lone judge will deliver a verdict on their class-action case. If the judge rules in favour of the Ecuadorians, Chevron could face damages of $27.3bn (£17bn), making it the biggest environmental lawsuit in history.

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see toon at top...

The Ecuadorian government has threatened to take over foreign oil concessions if the companies resist growing state control of the industry.

President Rafael Correa said every day millions of dollars were going to oil companies that should go to the state.

The government has been pressing the companies to give up concessions that give them a share of oil field profits and accept service contracts instead.

Oil firms operating in Ecuador come from Spain, Brazil, China and Italy.

'Serious action'

President Correa said during a televised address on Saturday: "Every day that passes there are millions of dollars going to these companies that should be going to the Ecuadorean state.

"I'm out of patience. We are sending a bill to Congress that would allow for the expropriation of oil fields should the companies not want to sign the new contracts.

"The oil companies are playing with us. In the coming weeks there are going to be very considerable actions. I have no regard for these companies, which have abused our country."

Foreign oil companies operating in Ecuador currently include Chinese-owned Andes Petroleum, Brazil's oil giant Petrobras and Repsol-YPF, dominated by Spanish and Argentine capital.

In 2008, Mr Correa defaulted on $3.2bn (£2bn) of foreign debt he described as "illegitimate", calling the international lenders "monsters".

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see toon at top.

The pay of Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, tripled last year despite the legal threats still hanging over the company from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The oil boss received $8.7m (£5.2m) in salary, bonus and share awards last year, according to the company's annual report, compared with $2.6m in 2012.

When contributions to his pension were included, Dudley, 58, got $13.2m for 2013 and has already accumulated a retirement package worth $2m a year.

The American took over at BP towards the end of 2010 after the exit of Tony Hayward, who led the group during the disastrous blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has already paid out billions in compensation for the worst environmental accident in US history and could yet be found guilty of gross negligence by the US department of justice, which could bring penalties of up to $20bn. It has also failed in court to stop what it believes are "absurd" compensation payments to victims who do not need to prove financial loss from the spill.

The share price has recovered from the immediate aftermath of spill but, at 486p, it is still far below the 650p it had reached just before the disaster in 2010.

The company is also facing potential difficulties after taking a 20% stake in Russia's largely state-owned oil group, Rosneft last year, given the threat of sanctions against Moscow over the Crimea crisis.

But the company said Dudley had taken steps to re-establish a good financial and safety record since he had been in charge.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/06/bob-dudley-chief-executive-bp-triples-pay