Exxon Mobil posts record U.S. profit (or, more fleecing of American consumers)

By Deepa Babington for Reuters:

Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted a quarterly profit of $9.9 billion, the largest in U.S. corporate history, as it raked in a bonanza from record oil and gas prices... Analysts have warned that record profits for Big Oil, at a time when consumers are paying sky-high prices for gasoline, could add to calls for a windfall profits tax or other penalties on oil companies.
Third-quarter net income at Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, rose to $9.92 billion, or $1.58 a share, from $5.68 billion, or 88 cents a share, a year earlier.