Dallas ? Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman Lee Raymond said that no matter how high gasoline prices may be at the pump, oil companies like his take no more than 3 to 5 cents per gallon in profit.

“Most of the cost of the price of gasoline at the pump is for taxes and the purchase of crude oil, and we are by far the largest purchaser of crude oil in the world,” Raymond said at a news conference after Exxon Mobil’s annual meeting Wednesday at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.

Raymond said that while Exxon Mobil produces about 1 million barrels of oil per day, it has to buy enough crude to meet the 6 million-barrel capacity of its refineries, which exposes the company daily to crude prices that have topped $40 per barrel this month.

“If we’re doing everything right, we may make a nickel per gallon,” Raymond said.

The chairman declined to predict where crude oil and gasoline prices would go in the coming months. The U.S. average price of unleaded gasoline is above $2 per gallon.

“In 40 years we’ve been terrible at predicting prices,” Raymond said. “Nothing’s changed now so I’m not going to start guessing.”

During the meeting, Raymond defiantly proclaimed that “hydrocarbon fuels will predominate in the world through the middle of this century.”

John K. Wilson, of the Christian Brothers Investments Services inc. of New York, proclaimed the potential “catastrophic effects” of global warming as he introduced a resolution that would require the company to make available to shareholders all its relevant data on climate change and potential effects on Exxon Mobil.

But shareholders supported management’s opposition, and the initiative received just 8.8 percent of the shares voted. Shareholders also defeated resolutions splitting the chairman and chief executive officer roles and one requiring that Exxon Mobil specifically cite gay men and lesbians in its anti-discrimination policy.

Of greater interest to shareholders and observers was the presence of the new president, Rex Tillerson. Tillerson shared the dais with Raymond during the meeting and was named to the board of directors. He has been considered Raymond’s heir apparent since his appointment as president in February.

Tillerson, 51, confined his comments at the meeting and subsequent news conference to company financial and operational details. Raymond said only, in response to a question about his retirement and succession, that “when the board of directors wants you to know something about it, they’ll tell you.”

Meanwhile, Raymond said there would be little relief anytime soon of a refinery bottleneck, one factor behind rising crude oil prices to more than $40 a barrel.

“We haven’t built a new refinery in this country for three decades, and that is due to both financial and regulatory concerns,” Raymond said. “Refineries historically haven’t made money, and I don’t see a lessening of environment restrictions.”

Maria Martinez, of Americans for Prosperity, pickets during Exxon Mobil's annual shareholder meeting. The demonstration was Wednesday in Dallas. During the meeting, shareholders rejected a resolution that would have required the company to make available to shareholders its relevant data on climate change and the potential effect on Exxon Mobil.