ExxonMobil's recent announcement of first quarter profits of $10.9 billion has prompted the predictable political demagoguery about "obscene" profits and the need for a new windfall profits tax.

Before taxes, Exxon had income of $20 billion on total world-wide revenue of $116 billion. Its earnings statement shows that the company paid $9.3 billion in income taxes to governments here and abroad. This amounts to an effective tax rate of  more than 46 percent, 10 percentage points higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 35 percent.

Exxon paid or remitted $20 billion in various sales taxes, excise taxes, severance taxes, and property taxes. This brings the total amount of taxes the company paid or remitted to $29.3 billion, nearly three times the net profits it earned for shareholders. 

The financial statements of two other large U.S.-based oil companies, ConocoPhillips and ChevronTexaco, show similar large tax payments.