From the NY Daily News
Plus, the value of the U.S. dollar is down, so the prices of primary commodities like minerals, oil and nonprocessed food items are up.

Add all these factors together, and it's no wonder that crude oil is 38% more expensive this quarter than it was a year ago. In the United States, the average price for a gallon of gasoline is around $4.

In other words, oil costs more - so those who sell it are taking in more money.

Yet oil companies' profit margins - that is, the percentage by which their revenues exceed their costs - are quite low. From 2006 to 2010, the nation's five largest oil companies posted an average profit margin of 6.65%. By contrast, Apple's profit margin exceeded 22%, and Coca-Cola's surpassed 33%.