Had Chevron funded their share of the Bay Trail in 2008, as originally recommended by Lt. Gov. Garamendi, their 2008 profits would have been $23,925,000,000 instead of $23,930,000,000 billion, still an all-time record.

Note that the 2008 earnings improvement resulted from “downstream” operations, such as the Richmond Refinery, as “ the lower cost of crude-oil feedstocks used in the refining process helped boost margins on the sale of gasoline and other refined products,” which means they kept the price of gas high while oil prices dropped, reaping in the profit on the difference.

Chevron record profit nearly $24 billion in 2008

By George Avalos
Staff Writer

Posted: 01/30/2009 07:59:26 AM PST

Updated: 01/30/2009 09:17:46 AM PST

SAN RAMON — Chevron Corp. captured fourth-quarter profits of $4.9 billion, but the earnings were only 1 percent higher than the year before and were fueled primarily by a one-time gain of $600 million. During all of 2008, Chevron earned $23.93 billion, a record for a full year.

Chevron's per-share profit for the quarter was $2.44. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted a per-share profit of $1.82.

San Ramon-based Chevron said the profit picture for its downstream, or refinery and retail business, brightened.

That was primarily due to the largest plunge in crude oil prices on record over the latter months of 2008.

"Fourth-quarter earnings for our downstream business improved as the lower cost of crude-oil feedstocks used in the refining process helped boost margins on the sale of gasoline and other refined products," said David O'Reilly, Chevron's chairman and chief executive.

But the same decline in oil prices, coupled with a decline in production, eroded Chevron's earnings for its upstream business that consists of exploration, production and development.

"Lower quarterly profits for our upstream operations reflected a sharp decline in crude-oil prices from a year ago," O'Reilly said.