Who profits from death and destruction?

Exxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, that's who.

While thousands were dying under the lash of Katrina, Rita, and most lately Wilma, and hundreds of millions more were feeling a major pinch in their wallets (oh, and the worst is yet to come, with winter on its way) Exxon-Mobil and Shell were posting record profits, with Exxon being the first US company to earn $100 million in a quarter. From AP:

To put Exxon's performance into perspective, its third quarter revenue was greater than the annual gross domestic product of some of the largest oil producing nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The world's largest publicly traded oil company also set a U.S. profit record with net income of almost $10 billion, according to Standard & Poor's equity market analyst Howard Silverblatt.

Both Exxon and Shell said their performances were buoyed by higher crude-oil and natural-gas prices, even as output suffered due to a busy hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon's net income ballooned 75 percent to $9.92 billion, compared with $5.68 billion a year ago. The previous oil-industry earnings record was Exxon's 2004 fourth-quarter profit of $8.42 billion. Revenue grew to $100.72 billion from $76.38 billion in the prior-year period.

At Shell, third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders grew 68 percent to $9.03 billion, compared with $5.37 billion a year earlier. Including income attributable to minority interests, profit rose 67 percent to $9.39 billion at the Anglo-Dutch company. Revenue rose 8 percent to $76.44 billion, in spite of an 11 percent decline in oil and natural gas output.

"We are capturing the benefits of high oil and gas prices and refining margins," Shell Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser said, referring to the profit margin on each barrel of crude that is refined into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Excluding certain items, Exxon's profit was $8.3 billion, or $1.32 per share, or slightly below the $1.38 per share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Shell said adjusted earnings on a current cost of supplies basis — a measurement that strips out the fluctuating value of the company's oil and gas inventories — was $7.37 billion, sharply higher than analysts' forecasts.

I'm sure glad that Shell and Exxon get benefits when gas prices go up - the rest of us suffer mightily. I wonder - will they be willing to share those profits with the poor who won't be able to afford heating oil this winter? The GOP always tells us that if government got out of the way, business would take care of everything. I think that record profits should allow for that, don't you?