this appeared in this morning's paper. i removed the intervening words, to bring the thoughts into juxtaposition. read 'em & weep.

Like its peers, Chevron doesn't produce enough oil on its own to feed its refineries, forcing it to buy some on the open market. But Chevron still pumped out plenty of oil to cash in on prices that recently approached $120 per barrel before retreating slightly. In the United States, the San Ramon-based company pocketed an average of nearly $90 per barrel for crude oil sold in the first quarter, more than doubling the $38.03 per barrel at the same time last year.

okay, my question is: if they're producing excess & selling it, why are they then turning around & purchasing oil to feed their refineries? is it a different kind of oil for different purposes? more likely, it's a bunch o' bidness shizzle - they are selling at a high price, buying at a low price. this much is true: it is not hurting their profits. chevron had the second-highest quarterly profit in the company's 129-year history.

yeah. no tears at chevron, eh?