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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Record oil prices netted Exxon Mobil a $10.89 billion profit in the first three months of the year, sharply higher than a year earlier but short of Wall Street estimates and below what was needed to set a new all-time profit record.
The profit was still enough to be the second-highest U.S. corporate profit on record, falling just short of the record $11.66 billion Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) earned in the prior quarter. The profit in that quarter came to $1,385 a second, enough to buy nearly 382 gallons of gas at current prices.
The sheer size of the Exxon profit reported Thursday will still likely attract attention from consumer groups and lawmakers, who have been arguing for higher taxes on oil companies amid soaring gas and oil prices.
"There is something seriously wrong with our economy when Exxon's record $11 billion in quarterly profits are seen as a disappointment by Wall Street," Hillary Clinton said in a statement, referring to the fact that Exxon's shares fell more than 3% Thursday. "I believe we should impose a windfall profits tax on big oil companies and use that money to suspend the gas tax and give families relief at the pump."
John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, also has called for suspending the gas tax, although he has not detailed how he would make up the lost revenue.
Clinton also has a plan to use a tax on oil companies to fund renewable energy, as does her rival Barack Obama, although Obama does not support eliminating the gas tax, saying the idea would do little good.
Several lawmakers in Congress, mostly Democrats, have tried to eliminate oil company tax breaks and use the money to fund renewables.
So far, those efforts have gone nowhere, blocked by lawmakers and the Bush administration, who say higher taxes will result in less domestic drilling and a greater reliance on imported oil.
But with gasoline prices setting a new record every day, the political pressure is mounting on lawmakers to do something.
Also saw a gas station selling disel fuel at $5.01
