UPDATE Gas Prices and Record Profits

from CNN

Profits at Exxon Mobil surged 36 percent to a near record $10.4 billion in the second quarter as surging oil prices helped the world's largest publicly traded company soundly beat Wall Street forecasts.
The company's profit - which amounts to a cool $1,318 a second - is the second biggest ever reported by a U.S. company, behind only the $10.7 billion Exxon itself earned in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The earnings equaled $1.72 a share, topping the $1.64 a share analysts had forecast on average, according to First Call. Total revenue in the quarter was just over $99 billion.

The $1,318 a second would buy enough gasoline, even at the current $3 a gallon national average, to drive a Hummer H3 between Los Angeles and New York three times.

Surging oil prices helped Exxon in the quarter, when crude prices jumped 31 percent. In the chart (right), Exxon's shares (yellow) closely follow the price of crude oil (blue).

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Gas stations in metro Detroit are charging about $3.15 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. This time last year, the national average for self-serve unleaded was $2.27 per gallon.