Record oil price to boost oil majors' profits

April 25, 2008
Record oil price to boost oil majors' profits

LONDON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) are expected to report bumper first-quarter profits next week, thanks to record crude prices, but $110 per barrel oil will also squeeze refining profits and delay a return to oil production growth.

Brent and benchmark U.S. crude prices rose around 70 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, to average almost $97/bbl and $98/bbl, respectively, while gas prices also rose.

Government money short to help poor pay heating bills

October 19, 2007

Government money short to help poor pay heating bills

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 30 million low-income American households who will need help paying heating bills this winter from a U.S. government program will be left in the cold because of a lack of funding for the program.

The poor, already digging deep to pay for expensive gasoline, also will face much higher heating fuel costs, especially if oil prices stay near record levels.

Consumer groups and state energy officials have sounded the alarm, saying a federal program to help poor families pay heating bills will have nowhere near the money needed to cover those expected to seek assistance.

The government's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, only has enough funding to cover 16 percent of the 38 million poor households eligible for the program.