Big oil benefiting from $14 billion in taxpayer handoutsdespite making record profits

A statement by Friends of the Earth legislative director Sara Zdeb criticizing the provision of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies and tax cuts to major oil companies while they report record profits and consumers face rising energy costs.

• Major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron Texaco, are achieving record profits; ExxonMobil specifically reported a quarterly profit of $9.9 billion, representing a 75 percent increase.
• Oil companies received over $4 billion in spending subsidies and tax incentives through the Energy Policy Act of 2005, in addition to $10 billion in tax cuts authorized before the bill's passage, totaling more than $14 billion in taxpayer-funded support.
• The Energy Department forecasts that home heating prices could increase by up to 41 percent during the winter, potentially forcing low-income families to choose between basic needs and heating.

APA

Zdeb, S. (2008). Big oil benefiting from $14 billion in taxpayer handoutsdespite making record profits. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/news/2008-11-big-oil-benefiting-from-14-billion-in-taxpayer-hando/

Chicago

Zdeb, Sara. Big oil benefiting from $14 billion in taxpayer handoutsdespite making record profits. Friends of the Earth, 2008. https://foe.org/news/2008-11-big-oil-benefiting-from-14-billion-in-taxpayer-hando/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Zdeb |first1=Sara |title=Big oil benefiting from $14 billion in taxpayer handoutsdespite making record profits |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=3 November 2008 |url=https://foe.org/news/2008-11-big-oil-benefiting-from-14-billion-in-taxpayer-hando/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{zdeb2008big, author = {Zdeb, Sara}, title = {{Big oil benefiting from \$14 billion in taxpayer handoutsdespite making record profits}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2008}, month = nov, url = {https://foe.org/news/2008-11-big-oil-benefiting-from-14-billion-in-taxpayer-hando/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }