Conoco had profits of 89 perecent this quarter–right? Wrong!! Despite what many, including Rush Limbaugh are reporting, that is not the truth. If you read the news stories carefully you will notice that Conoco has had an 89 percent increase in profits over the same quarter last year. This is very different. Here is the dirty little secret that oil company bashers are not pointing out. Conoco’s profit margin in the third quarter was 7.64% not 89%. This was actually below their 12 month average of 7.66%. The average for all US industry is 7.8%.