Activists Hold Demonstration Against California Big Oil Producers

ExxonMobil’s Ken Cohen highlights the tax payments made by some of the largest US-based oil companies, three of which – Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips – appear in a list of the Top 10 corporate tax payers in 2012 compiled by 24/7 Wall Street.  “In fact, ExxonMobil and Chevron are ranked #1 and #3 respectively, with income tax expense far in excess of many of the other large corporations in the Top 10…We topped the list with a reported $31 billion in corporate income tax expense; Chevron reported $20 billion.” [ExxonMobil Perspectives Blog]

Solar-battery storage systems received lots of attention when Tesla and Solar City announced they were partnering on the technology, but batter-backed up residential solar systems have been around for decades, with marijuana growers credited with being pioneers. “Yet solar-plus-storage actually has been around for decades. In fact, it kickstarted the solar industry in the early 1980s. A bunch of marijuana “farmers” in Northern California who weren’t connected to the grid needed a way to get electric lights for their grow operations. A young hippie stumbled upon an ARCO solar panel at a consumer electronics show, founded AEE Solar soon after, and started powering off-grid homes with solar panels and car batteries. His customers always paid with cash.” [GreenBiz.com]

US benchmark WTI oil prices dipped below $94/bbl Thursday and Brent fell 52 cents to $105.75/bbl. Opec revised its global oil consumption forecast upward to 1 million b/d this year, but non-Opec supply is also expected to increase. [Associated Press]