Price gouging by 'American' and other oil companies

[tyedyeto]

$4.00 per gallon of gas is in our future, that’s a given. What’s also in our future is Exxon, Chevron etc., reaping BILLIONS in profits at the expense of the driving public.

The gas companies tell us: ‘Let’s shut down this or that refinery.’ ‘People will pay at the pump no matter what the price is’. So true.

More profit for us (Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, etc), make the Public pay for the gas to drive here and there, says Exxon et al.. Who is going to investigate? Not Congress. They don’t care. State Legislatures? They don’t care.

When will anyone with influence awaken to the fact that $10 BILLION dollars profit per quarter is outrageous? I doubt if that will happen in the near future be they Democratic or Republican.

They are all in the pockets of the oil industry and have no idea what it is costing the average American.

In other words, there will never be any real investigation of price gouging by oil companies in the near future.


If I don't answer your post right away, it's because my server has been acting up and disconnecting me within 5 minutes of signing on.

[flyarm]

1. ahhh hell they all have a free ride..hell the dems will look the other way..and the rethugs will

kiss their asses...no one cares..not one of them in washington gives a shit...we the people don't matter anymore..we are just the schlups who will pay for it..

its like a nation wide rape..and it is those we send to washington doing the raping..and we are told by others..they are doing the best they can..in a pigs ass i say..

we are their money pit...

fuck them all...

fly

[whistle]

2. You got that right, crude oil costs less than $1.00 per barrel at the well-head

...so the difference is mostly middle men profits and payoffs

[tyedyeto]

7. In the past year, Exxon-Mobile has been posting outrageous profits

even before the 'summer' gouging. It's not all middle-men.

[bbinacan]

9. And a hell of a lot of taxes

you must admit.

[whistle]

11. Taxes on gasoline were suspended by Governor Jeb Bush

...and I'm not sure if the new Rep Gov Crist reimposed them or not. It does appear that Florida's gasoline prices are still twenty to thirty cents lower per gallon than the rest of the country. Just how much tax is imposed on crude oil and the various products produced from petroleum? Certainly it has been the Bush/Cheney doctrine to allow oil prices to follow market demand and I am not aware of any new taxes on oil and resulting products that the Bush administration and republican controlled congress have imposed since Jan 2001 when gasollon was selling for an average of $1.52 per gallon in the U.S.

<snip>
Global comparison of price per gallon of gasoline (January 2001)

UK $5.05
Norway $4.54
South Korea $4.52
France $4.28
Japan $4.16
U.S. $1.52
China $1.34
Ukraine $1.00
Kuwait $0.76
Indonesia $0.45
Venezuela $0.40

Source: Runzheimer International.
<end>

<snip>
How much are we paying for a gallon of gas?



We pay about $3.00 for a gallon of gasoline at the service station. But the real price of gas is much higher and camouflaged by myriad direct and indirect costs associated with maintaining our oil economy. How much are you actually paying for gas? Take a closer look at the hidden bills footed by your taxes:


The cost of securing our access to Middle East oil..is estimated at $50 billion per year..
The federal government subsidizes the oil industry with numerous tax breaks and government protection programs worth billions of dollars annually. These benefits are designed to ensure that domestic oil companies can compete with international producers and that gasoline remains cheap for American consumers.

Our dependency on oil from countries that are either politically unstable or at odds with the U.S. subjects the American economy to occasional supply disruptions, price hikes, and loss of wealth, which, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, have cost us more than $7 trillion present value dollars over the last 30 years. That is more than the cumulative cost of all of the wars fought by the U.S. since the Revolutionary War. The transfer of wealth to oil-producing countries - $1.16 trillion over the past thirty years - significantly increased our trade deficit. The Department of Energy estimates that each $1 billion of trade deficit costs America 27,000 jobs. Oil imports account for almost one-third of the total U.S. deficit and, hence, are a major contributor to unemployment.

The cost of securing our access to Middle East oil - deploying U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, patrolling its water and supplying military assistance to Middle East countries - is estimated at $50 billion per year, which adds additional dimes to each gallon of gasoline we purchase
<MORE>

http://www.iags.org/costofoil.html

[Selatius]

3. Many Americans have no choice but to accept whatever gas price. There is no national mass transit.

The only thing I want to do when I think of companies like Exxon-Mobil is dust off an old and rarely used law called the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Break them all up. While we're at it, break up the corporate media outlets too. It's time to smash it all.

[IChing]

8. No argument here....I remember AT&T then the baby bell then Cingular-

and now

AT&T

[rucky]

4. Screwing the poor and middle class for fun and profit.

FWIW, a GAO investigation's been called.

:shrug:

[Double T]

5. The corporate criminals have been given a license to gouge.........

and money grab by our legislators on both sides of the aisle. Mergers, Acquisitions, Free Trade and Outsourcing are the stuff that is dismantling and destroying our nation and Congress is guilty as hell for ENABLING it to happen. After the second crash and depression perhaps a revolution will occur to replace our failed and broken system of government.

[tyedyeto]

6. From a layperson'spoint of view...

what is 'summer gasoline'? We've been hearing that the rise in price is due to refineries having to add 'additives' to gas for the summer season. WHY?

[dweller]

10. it's the 'stuff' they add to the summer blends to guarantee

you 5-11 mpg's less on your vacation travels.

:tinfoilhat:

CEO's need new yachts, summer homes abroad, etc. now and then, don't ya know?

dp

[annabanana]

12. The whole WAR was to keep the prices HIGH. .

Just think what would happen to the oil barons if the market was flooded with cheap oil... No one would take their calls, they wouldn't be invited to the best parties...