Deadly deals

'War! Good God, yall, what is it good for?' Oil profits as payback it appears.

AI helped me make this. That is ALL it has done on this brief post.

I’m going to make this one even shorter than most. Other people will probably catch it too.

When I heard today’s news about oil profits — record profits — I remembered (then went back and checked the particulars of) an April 2024 gathering Trump held at Mar-a-Lago during his campaign.

Billed by the ochre host as an “Energy Round Table,” the meeting targeted Big Oil donors.

The guest list included about 20 oil and gas executives, among them pretty much all of the companies now turning record profits.

Trump’s message at his soiree was straightforward: You guys have lots of money. Give me a $1 billion and you won’t have to worry about costly regulations.

Or much regulation of any kind.

In this instance, Trump kept up his end of the bargain. Big time. And with day-one executive orders.

The size of today’s profits reflects some of that regulatory payoff, and will do so for years to come apparently.

But, let’s not lose sight of the fact that it’s war that has put oil prices through the roof and oil profits in record territory.