Oil Boom: Exxon Breaks Record for Profits by U.S. Company
By John Porretto

Exxon Mobil reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results fell well short of Wall Street expectations and shares fell in premarket trading.

Article Continues… (ABC News)

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d say someone’s in bed with someone else, and the American consumer is suffering.

Realistically, I don’t understand how this stuff works, so I probably shouldn’t comment on it.

Israel must act alone against Iran
By Aaron Klein

Any Israeli attack on Iran will not be aided by the U.S., according to an internal assessment by the Jordanian embassy in Washington obtained by WND.

“The U.S. policy on Iran is driven by economic concerns. Washington is worried about an explosion in oil prices in the event of any attack and so it wants to minimize all public involvement or U.S. coordination should Israel act,”

Article Continues… (WorldNetDaily)

This story was published last week, I meant to comment on it, and somehow forgot. I bring it up now because I think it’s important.

I’ve always had this feeling that the U.S. would abandon Israel at some point, but I could never fathom a reason for it. However, I now see an obvious reason: oil. It seems the ol’ “black gold” may be enough to force Israel to stand alone to defend itself.

What do you all think?

In addition to having the most Southern-sounding name I’ve heard in a while, T. Boon Pickens has an interesting plan for reducing our dependence on foreign oil:

I’m not sure where I stand on the whole “peak oil” thing, but I do think something needs to be done about these prices!

HT: The Oil Drum

OPEC chief warns of ‘unlimited’ oil prices if Iran is attacked
By James Kanter

The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warned Thursday that oil prices would see an “unlimited” increase in the case of a military conflict involving Iran, because the group’s members would be unable to make up the lost production.

Article Continues… (International Herald Tribune)

Yet another reason we need to:

1) Drill for our own oil

2) Pursue alternate energy sources

Make no mistake, OPEC is running things!