10
Friday, January 30, 2004
THE lJAT TALI |
Exxon Mobil set record profit in 2003 Congressman: FDA
By David Koenig
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burning hot
DALLAS — Exxon Mobil
Corp. saw fourth-quarter earn
ings jump 63 percent as it bene
fited from higher prices for
crude oil and natural gas.
Exxon Mobil, the world’s
largest publicly traded oil com
pany, said Thursday that it also
set a record for earnings in one
year, $21.51 billion, nearly dou
ble its profit for all of 2002.
In the October-December
quarter, Exxon Mobil earned
$6.65 billion, or $1.01 per share
compared to $4.09 billion, or 60
cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding $2.23 billion from
settlement of a dispute with the
Internal Revenue Service and
other one-time gains and losses,
Exxon Mobil said it earned
operating profit of $4.42 billion,
or 68 cents per share, compared
to $3.79 billion, or 56 cents per
share a year ago.
That easily beat the forecast
of analysts surveyed by
Thomson First Call, who had
expected earnings of 58 cents
per share.
Revenue rose to $65.95 bil
lion from $56.21 billion.
Exxon Mobil shares rose 66
cents, or 1.6 percent, to $41.47
in trading Thursday on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Analysts said they expected
Exxon Mobil to have a great
fourth quarter because of high
oil and gas prices. They said the
results were even better than
expected partly because Exxon
Exxon Mobil Corp.'s fourth-quarter
profit jumped from the previous
year, helped by higher prices for
crude oil and natural gas.
Net income
$8 billion
$6.65
billion
Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2002
2003
SOURCE: Exxon Mobil Corp.
AP
Mobil’s chemicals business,
long stuck in the doldrums,
posted a $400 million increase
in profit.
Exxon Mobil stepped up its
capital spending, including
exploration, in the fourth quarter
as part of a long-term strategy to
boost production by drilling in
West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico
and elsewhere around the world.
Patrick Mulva, the compa
ny’s director of investor rela
tions, said capital spending in
2004 would remain around
$15 billion.
“It’s very important for us to
invest in our base, a base that is
highly profitable,” Mulva said.
“These investments are very
high-return projects for us.”
For all 2003, Exxon Mobil
earned a record $21.51 billion, or
$3.23 per share, compared to
$11.46 billion, or $1.68 per share
in 2002. Excluding what the com
pany considered one-time gains,
the profit would have been $17.03
billion, on revenue of $246.74 bil
lion, up from $204.51 billion sales
in 2002.
The company ended the year
with $10.6 billion cash on hand,
a spokesman said.
The news of record earnings
at Exxon Mobil comes as U.S.
motorists face rising prices at
the gasoline pumps. Retail
prices have climbed 14 cents per
gallon in the past five weeks to
about $1.62 for a gallon of self-
serve regular, according to the
Lundberg Survey of 8,000 serv
ice stations.
Tyson Slocum, an energy
researcher for the consumer
group Public Citizen, said the
huge profits indicate a handful
of oil companies hold too much
power, including the five that
control about half the nation’s
refining capacity and 60 percent
of its gasoline sales. He said the
government should force
merged oil companies — Exxon
bought Mobil in 1999 — to
divest more of their assets.
“The company is doing what
a company should be doing,
which is maximizing return to
its shareholders,” Slocum said
of Exxon Mobil. “The problem
is when you merge fully inte
grated oil companies with only
minimal requirements for
divestiture, it creates fertile
ground for these companies to
have huge market power.”
Fadel Gheit, an analyst with
Oppehheimer & Co., said
Exxon Mobil profited from the
rise in oil to more than $30 per
barrel and higher natural gas
prices but wasn’t responsible for
the run-up.
“Oil companies have
absolutely no control over the
price of oil. It’s a commodity
price set by OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries), politics
and Mother Nature,” Gheit said.
He argued that if oil compa
nies could control prices, “How
come they didn’t do something
in 1998, when oil prices were
$12 a barrel?”
Gheit predicted that oil and
natural gas prices, which have
moved higher since in the new
year, would assure “another very
strong quarter” for Exxon Mobil
in the January-March period.
As impressive as Exxon
Mobil’s fourth-quarter profit
was, the gain could be more than
wiped out by a federal judge’s
ruling Wednesday in a lawsuit
stemming from the 1989 wreck
of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker.
The judge ordered Exxon Mobil
to pay $6.75 billion in punitive
damages and interest to 32,000
fishermen, Alaska natives and
others harmed by the oil spill.
Exxon Mobil vowed another
appeal. Mulva declined to say
whether the company has set
aside money to pay if it eventu
ally loses the case.
“We believe we’ve more
than met our obligations there,”
Mulva said of the Alaska spill.
“We spent over $3.5 billion in
total in Valdez on compensation
and a clean-up operation.”
lax on false drug a
By Lauran Neergaard
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug
ting more misleading drug advertisements air unchal^J
doing little to stop companies that repeatedly o^tyf 0
medications, a congressman contended Thursday*
The FDA is supposed to ensure that drug proh 10 ti^ t . t(Kt ]
to doctors and in the $2.8 billion worth of annual dif 6
sumer advertising — are fair and accurate.
But last year, FDA sent just 24 citations l°
d^P'
whose ads were false or misleading, a 75 P erttnt K ',p. Hfl
1999 and 2000, according to a report issued by
Waxman, D-Calif. . .•
The decrease doesn’t mean drug advertising —^joOill
believable, Waxman said. FDA reviewed an averag e °*^
promotional pieces a month last year — 6 percent '0
2002 — and complaints to the agency about ads’ truthn' •
remained steady. ^-pianJ
FDA cited one ad for every eight complaints,
compared w ith one citation per seven complaints > n -
When FDA cited an ad. it took, on average, almost s . s(a jj
after the promotion began, says the report by Dernocra ^ J
the House Government Refonn Committee. Waxman 1
ing Democrat on the committee. . -jjjjJ
In one case, FDA didn’t tell a company to quit hyp ,n f
t ed ao
part
■om
cer drug Taxotere until a year after a consumer-targe
running. In another, it took FDA more than three mo* 1
pullt
NEWS IN BRIEF
Kroger Co. recalls roast beef from stores
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Kroger Co. is recalling Private
Selection brand roast beef from its stores in 20 states, including
Texas, after a sample taken from a Kroger delicatessen counter
in Atlanta tested positive for a bacteria that can cause sickness
and, in some cases, death.
The sample taken by the Georgia Department of Agriculture
tested positive for listeria monocytogenes, Kroger officials said
Tuesday. It was unclear when the sample was taken.
Eating food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes can
cause high fever, severe headaches, neck stiffness, abdominal
pain, nausea and diarrhea. The infection may be more serious or
even fatal among young children, frail or elderly people, or those
with weak immune systems.
The product is being removed from store shelves. Kroger offi
cials said they had not received customer complaints of illness
related to the roast beef.
the maker of the controversial painkiller Oxycontin to
ical journal ad that “grossly overstated’’ the drug s safW'j
Congressional investigators at the General A
Office in 2(K)2 called FDA’s oversight of drug ads ' j
and then-incoming FDA Commissioner Mark
pledged to do more. I
In August, McClellan sent the industry a signal to snap
FDA told one company to run expensive corrections of
ads that had given false information about a popular cwWJ
medicine. The agency also ordered another company topro'l
doctors with corrected information after learning that dnigsal
men had touted an AIDS medicine as a “miracle drug.’ |
The number of citations means less than targeting the
egregious violators and “making sure the letters that gooutkil
teeth," said FDA Associate Commissioner Peter Pitts. Heivl
that overall, the agency’s actions against rule-breakers, mebrj
tines, have increased.
Still, delay in targeting false drug ads “is absolutely ap j
lein," Pitts acknowledged.
Next month. FDA w ill give drug manufacturers moree
guidelines on creating truthful ads.
WwsAip
m
/
NEWS IN BRIEF
J
AssemBCy of QocC
Church of Christ
Methodist
Presbyterian
Bethel Temple Assembly of God
2608 Villa Maria,
Bryan
776-4835
Sunday Worship 10:15
Sunday School 9:00
www.betheltemplebcs.com
‘Baptist
Parkway Baptist Church
1501 Southwest Pkwy
(979) 693-4701
Sunday Worship 10:45 am & 6 pm
Sunday School 9:30 am
Meal 5:15 pm. College Bible Study 6:30 pm
www.pbccs.org
A&M Church of Christ
1901 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy.
(979)693-0400
Sunday Assemblies:
8 a.m., 10:30 a.m.,
College Bible Class 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Night: 5:45 p.m.
Mid-Week 6:45 p.m.
Aggies for Christ
Call for on-campus pick-up info
www.aggiesforchrist.org
‘EpiscopaC
First United
Methodist Church
Bryan
Worship Services:
8:40 am and 10:55 am
Sunday School at 9:45 am
Rev. Matt Idom, Pastor
On 28' 1 ' Street, 1 block east
of Texas Avenue in Bryan
779-1324
www.fumcbryan.org
College Station Korean
Presbyterian Church
220 Rock Prarie Rd., CS
696-0403
Sunday Worship - 2:00p.m.
HO!
Covenant Presbyterian Church
220 Rock Prairie Road
(979) 694-7700
Students Welcome
Sunday Service:
8:30 & 11 a.m.
Sunday School:
9:45 a.m.
Cathode
St. Mary’s
Catholic Center
603 Church Avenue in Northgate
(979)846-5717
www.aaqiecatholic.ora
Pastoral Team
Rev. Michael J. Sis, Pastor
Rev. Keith Koehl, Associate Pastor
- Campus Ministers -
Deacon Bill Scott. Deacon David Reed,
Martha Tonn, Julia Motekaitis
Dawn Rouen, Roel Garza
Daily Masses
Mon.-Fri.: 5:30 p.m. in the Church
Tues.StThurs.: 12:05 p.m. in the
All Faiths Chapel
Weekend Masses
Sat: 2:00 p.m. (Korean),
5:30 p.m. (English), 7:00 p.m. (Spanish)
Sun.: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m.,
5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Confessions
Wed. 8:30-9:30 p.m., Sat. 4:00-5:15 p.m.
o.r by appointment.
St. Thomas Episcopal
906 George Bush Dr. • College Station, TX
696-1726
Services - 8:00 (Rite 1), 9:00(Family Service Rite II)
and 11:15 (Rite ll-for late sleeping Ags)
7:30 p.m. Evensong
Next door to Canterbury House,
the Episopal Student Center
.
9{pn-(DenominationaC
www.covenantpresbyterian.org
Lutheran
Sunday
8:15 a.m. & 10:45 a.m.
Sunday School
9:30 a.m
Aggie Lutherans
Brazos Community
Church
l&m aW deuiqkteu abimdatCt lift klMqdomt atU 2:17
Siwdouj -Qe'd/icR be/jiM @ 10:00 cu.m.
ffutatt gioupi Meet uiteldy
700 University Dr., C.S.
Pastor Paul Fowler
(979) 260-1922
(in same shopping center as Golden Corral)
LUTHERAN CHURCH
COLLEGE STATION. TEXAS
Comer of Hatvey Mitchell Pkwy and Rio Grande
693-4403 • www.peacelutheranweb.com
Christian
Methodist
First Christian Church
900 South Ennis, Bryan
823-5451
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Morning Worship 10:45 a.m.
Robert D. Chandler, Minister
United Methodist
417 University Dr. (in Northgate) • 846-8731
Sunday Worship: 8:30, 9:45, 10:50
College Sunday School: 9:30,10:45
Thursday Nights: 5:30 - University Choir
6:30 - FREE Supper, 7:00 - College Bible Study
www.am-umc.org/college
Fading a Httie overwhelmed?
God can help!
We are a small church that teaches
God's Word verse by verse, and
places a high value on worship.
CASUAL ATMOSPHERE
Come join us!
Currently meeting at:
Putt-Putt Golf & Somes
1705 Valley View Dr C.S.
Just across Texas Ave. from
the C.S. Police Station
Services at 10:30 am Sunday
Pastor Jeff Hughes ‘95
(979)324-3972 www.aggleland.ee
To advertise
on this
page call
The Battalion
today!
845-2696
V.
Scientists estimatf
X-ray cancermA
LONDON (AP)—Then*
cancer from common X
and increasingly popular
scans ranges from less
percent to about 3
according to a new study.
The small risk posed by
ray radiation is well-known
the study by researchers
Oxford University and C#
Research U.K. makes
most careful effort to da!;
estimate it precisely, the
fists said.
CT scans, also know 1
CAT scans, are compt'
enhanced X-rays that can ‘ 1 r e a
vide a better view of all f a 8 <1 ' n - 1
of the body. But they eirt J e &
nificantly more radiationtb 'Ink f
standard X-ray. I Vin;
In the United States, do; ilsect
have urged caution abjhret
unnecessarily using thescMd g
on children. Children aref for a
sensitive to radiation over th
exposure is cumulative. Sunda)
The new research indc®Vin;
the cancer risk — ranging Held »<
0.6 percent to 3.2 percer'L^
varies depending on the j
quency of X-rays and sc p le
15 countries surveyed. E>
not involved in the study wro^i
the journal The Lancet,
published the findings, thal
benefits of X-rays and CT#
fat outweigh the risk.
'sure' of
U.S.
capturing Bin
Laden this yea^
KABUL, Afghanistan (/
The U.S. military is “sure 1
catch Osama bin Laden
year, perhaps within monl
spokesman declared Thui
but Pakistan said it wou
allow American troops to
the border in search of I
Qaida leader.
U.S. military spokesmai
Col. Bryan Hilferty’s predii
about capturing bin U
comes as the Army read?'
spring offensive
Taliban and al-Qaida
A U.S. official
Wednesday that the
on
shi
L’sl
fThei
he f
1
lam
32-
‘etc
rat
Pf
e sf
'W a
ted
ninj
“Th
hat
on
ichii
might extend into Pakistanjr 1 st r
Bin Laden, chief suspeW' arc
the Sept. 11,2001, attacks* 9 w
sparked the U.S.-led invajp^
of Afghanistan, is believe?!
be holed up somewhere efc
the mountainous border. m
e I
’roehl.
Fed