Exxon Mobil’s 2006 profit rose to a record US$39.5- billion – the highest ever recorded by a corporation. It has also led to renewed calls over US policies that favour Big Oil.

The figure is up 9% from a year earlier. “T-Rex Tillerson”, Exxon Mobil’s CEO said the 2006 results were “driven by strong results in every business segment.”
The results keep Exxon Mobil at the top of the list for global companies for revenue, profit and market capitalization. But it also makes the company a magnet for critics of Big Oil and the Bush Adminstration.
Exxon Mobil today posted the highest corporate profit in history, but American consumers continue to struggle to pay higher energy costs,” said Senator Hillary Clinton, who is a Democratic presidential hopeful. Instead of lining the pockets of Big Oil, we need a new direction in energy policy,” she said.
Democratic Representative Ed Markey called the profits “outlandish” and said they were “the direct result of a Bush energy policy that for seven years has used every lever of the American government to tilt the scales towards satisfying the special interest demands of a single industry.”