Lack of planning? what lack of planning?! The US planed to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. Can you say "Mission Accomplished." That's the kind of foresight, regularity, and predictability that Halliburton could build a business model on.
Tom Engelhardt makes this and many other points in his latest post.
He also suggests that it may be problematic to have a NS Adviser- cum Sec. State- with a Chevron oil tanker named after her. Though it doesn't seem to have helped Chevron much. Check out this graph of oil profits, 2001-2006 (all figures in millions of USD). Why do Chevron's earnings and profits lag so far behind its competitors? This is a real question. Is Chevron heavily invested in Latin America or other places where the state is still strong? (The graph is from a book I was working on last year: Ferguson, No End in Sight, 2007.)
When idealism loses its charm, never underestimate a shameless appeal to realism:
Greenspan: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq was is largely about oil." (and BASES it's worth adding... as the British learned long ago, oil without bases is not really yours- how did all of our oil end up under their sand anyway?)
But not to worry oh Great Liberators, the people of Iraq love Western military bases in their country, just ask the HASHEMITES!!
3 comments:
No, I do not like this chart. It is missing pertinent information on both the x & y axis...not clearly labeled either. Missing some 000s on the y axis. I am sure the oil firms made more than $200,000 as your chart suggests. Often we drop the zeros but then it is labelled (in thousands) or (in millions) or (in billions). Also the x axis is time, but what are we measuring? Are these net profits, gross profits, revenues, and what is the source? Are these ME revenues, global revenues, or what? Or is this the amount spent on advertising. Charts & statistics don't mean shit, especially if they are not properly labelled. Labelled is not spelled incorrectly. It can be spelled labeled or labelled, both are correct. But as a stylistic guide, one should choose one and be consistent. I however am the authority, so I can do whatever I want, even if it violates accepted norms. When the president does it, it means it is not illegal.
Briggy out...(keep up the good work, maybe someone will read it, contact me to discuss driving traffic to this site. If you spend time on something, then it should be seen. CORRECTION:Actually "it" can only be spelled "i-t", labelled can be spelled labeled or labelled. I did like the comment on "Halliburton could build a business model on."
WHOOPS, to err is human. I see now that your text, (buried below the lead)defines these numbers in millions of US Dollars. You also identify the source of the graph, good-good. However, I am not clear if these are global profits, or regional profits? Are these EBITDA profits or sup'm else? EBITDA of course means Earnings Before Income Tax, Depreciation & Amortization, an acronym used by financial analysts to compare apples to apples, not apples to persimmons.
Another question: Do these figures include downstream amounts, or is this just upstream, exploration & development profits. You miss-spelled planned, a typo I know, but "planed" is not "planned." Perhaps you should engage Calum's Blessed Youth Publishing to proofread and edit your blog. They are very reasonable, I think like a US penny per correction. Something even a graduate student could afford. Professionals don't always have mustard and ketchup stains on the business attire, especially when trying to impress or engage their peers in a manner deserving of respect.
Of course, providing the appropriate editor access to this blog would be the logical sequence of events, as you most undoubtedly do not have the time to make the corrections yourself. However, my team of operatives operate 24/7 not only globally, but universally. In fact, we have a team orbiting Jupiter right now, seeing how we can use all of the boss' (me) hot air to bring a paradigm shift in the thinking and actions of the Earthlings. Alternatively, we plan to use his (mine) hot air to power this CPU - central processing unit. Briggy out.
PS
Your father's 65th birthday is manana...no "enya" on this English-centric keyboard, lo siento.
Post a Comment