I was thinking about your general belief that Exxon is doctoring their books. I cannot prove this is not true but I thought about some of my experiences and thought that maybe you might want to consider this.

I will use Exxon because they are the most visible. They have to be subjected to numerous types of audits. When you do government work they often audit your books to insure that the way you developed a price is supportable. I am sure that auditors come in to insure that the royalty numbers are accurate. They are audited by an independent auditor who asserts that the numbers can be relied on. Customers often do audits. I have been through audits from taxing entities. Lastly, the number of people they have who are involved in accounting functions has to be very large. With all those auditors and all the people in the company how likely is it that no one would find something out of order.

If you worked in the accounting department and could prove they were shielding money from taxes, the benefit of proving this to the IRS would be very substantial.

I am sure that they make managerial decisions so that they meet projections and budgets. Public companies live and die by these numbers so it is standard practice to rush product out the door to pump up sales I do not know enough about that business so I cannot say what other things they probably do.

Take a look at BP. I think it was that company, they made almost as much as Exxon and all their numbers were pretty much in line with Exxon. My view is that the Numbers are accurate to the extent that you could use them to evaluate the state of the company.

I think that making them the boogie man is convenient for both the Dem's and reps. I think that those who understand the industry know where the abuses are in the moving of $10 a barrel oil to our tanks at close to $4 a gallon.

I think our politicians are happy for us to accept their smoke and mirrors explanation of why we are spending so much for gas. Most people bought it and no sense in trying to explain why the anger is misguided.

i