Before you start chanting anti-Exxon slogans, you should know that only 3% of the oil company’s profits come from the U.S. They are a global company with a diverse revenue base. To give us the big picture on this, Ken Cohen, vice president of public and government affairs for Exxon Mobil Corporation has posted some details about the company:

Less than 3 percent of ExxonMobil’s earnings are from U.S. gasoline sales.

ExxonMobil’s earnings are from operations in more than 100 countries around the world. The part of the business that refines and sells gasoline and diesel in the United States represents less than 3 percent – or 3 cents on the dollar – of our total earnings. For every gallon of gasoline, diesel or finished products we manufactured and sold in the United States in the last three months of 2010, we earned a little more than 2 cents per gallon. That’s not a typo. Two cents.

Wow. While Exxon Mobil squeezes a couple of pennies out of each gallon of gas, the U.S. government does a bit better. The government rakes in somewhere between 40-60 cents in taxes from each gallon of gas. And since the government spends ZERO dollars to sell that gasoline, their profit margin is 100%.