I knew it! US Oil corps, not OPEC, reaping "benefits" of oil prices!

[johnaries]

On NBC TODAY (sorry, couldn't find a link) said that OPEC is running at near capacity, so the high prices are not their fault. US oil refineries and oil companies are the ones making huge profits off of high gas profits. For instance, Exxon/Mobil's profits annual profits jumped from $21 bil to $31 bil.

I've been saying all along there was price fixing going on. This may not PROVE it, but it sure supports it!

B*'s buddies are the ones making the profits. Whay does that say to you?

[acmavm]

1. It says 'situation normal, all f***ed up'.

.

[rodeodance]

2. there has been several stories about his lately. Nothing happen in

Congress. No one asking for an investigation.

[johnaries]

13. Actually, Dems are trying to do SOMETHING to find out what secrets

Cheney is hiding:
http://www.ems.org/energy_policy/cheney_energy_task_force.html

snippet:
Cheney Rejects Requests for Information
About Energy Task Force
Last update: July 15, 2002

Correspondence and background:

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform (Dem.) presents a "Chronology of the Bush White House's Refusal to Cooperate with a Congressional Investigation of the Energy Task Force." The timeline runs from May 2001 to April 2002 and includes PDFs of correspondence between Vice President Cheney, the General Accounting Office and U.S. legislators. See also this timeline on the website of the Committee on Energy and Commerce (Dem.) -- there is some overlap with the Committee on Government Reform timeline.


On edit: OOPS! That was 2002. Where are they now?

[electropop]

18. Anybody still think Iraq is a war for oil?

Nope, it's a war _against_ oil, and it's a huge success. With Mideast oil in short supply, who do you suppose reaps the profits? Yup, oily Americans like Bush, Cheney, Rice, and the whole administration.

[Copperred]

3. US Oil Should be Public Utility

See:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2004328

[all.of.me]

4. this is something i heard yesterday.

i work with the public (tourists), and we were talking about gas prices (since they went up 10 cents while i was working yesterday!). this one guy says his daughter is a petroleum engineer. she says there are something like 40 different grades of gas for different areas of the country, and that the refineries have to retool the plant for each area. she says it's the refineries creating false shortages, while they retool and cater to one part of the country.

has anybody heard of this before? i hadn't. i said something benign like, 'hmmmm, interesting....'

[lildreamer316]

15. Hey; great point ;I'm gonna hang onto this.

So I wonder does this mean there really isn't a shortage? Or the possibility that maybe they are just trying to prepare us for a shortage? Questions; questions...

[johnaries]

25. NO, there currently IS NOT a shortage. Although there will be when they

all run dry. U.S. oil reserves are up 4$.

Also, OPEC is predicting that '06 demands will rise by 1.57 million bpd, but:
"The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is already pumping 1 million bpd above its anticipated requirement for 2006."
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/17/news/international/opec.reut/index.htm

Nope, no shortage. No "increase in demand" is causing prices to go up.
Price fixing, plain and simple!

[all.of.me]

30. a curious thing in our town that has been addressed but...

ignored, is that ALL the gas stations charge exactly the same price. There is now one station that charges 2 cents less, but other than that, they're all the same and all change on the same day. it's as though it's a plan. what is up with that?!

and we have the most expensive gas in the state. 'they' say it's because it takes more to transport it here, because it's so rural. BUT! i have seen more rural places nearby where the gas is cheaper.

we have asked questions, but we get no response. of course...

[all.of.me]

29. yeah, it just kind of got me thinking.

i'd never heard this before, and it made me think of other links in the chain of oil-to-gas.

the bottom line is that GAS IS TOO FUCKING EXPENSIVE! ;)

[Stil]

24. The number of gas grades

don't mean that much. First normally three grades of gas. Then different areas just due to elevation need different blends. Add summer and winter blends which in its self halves it. Add some companies make gas for other gas outlets. Which may request a different blend. I.E. We don't want sooper sekrit (add your name) additive in the gas. Some act like its due to enviromental laws. Which up to a point is true. But not the majority. BTW they don't retool. They have the towers and tanks there. The just adjust blend.

[all.of.me]

28. hmmmm.... that IS interesting.

while this guy was talking, i was trying to decide if he was right wing or not, reading between the lines. his point was that the refineries are the ones making the profit. i just wasn't sure what to make of it. still don't! lol

[mattclearing]

5. This from the Enron presidency? Color me shocked. n/t

[Burried News]

6. Well I am sure with all the increased revenue they will be putting

even more adds on TV to show us how Green they are.

Meanwhile whatever happened to the idea of double hulled tankers? Or is a ship full of crude so valuable that we don't have to worry about any ships' captains being drunk at the helm?

[Bassic]

7. Is anybody surprised about this?

Exxon-Mobil reaped record benefits for the second quarter. We're all getting fucked up the ass by these companies, and don't hold your breath cause it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[Carla in Ca]

31. A friend of ours just sent us a March 2004 report

put together by Public Citizen.

MERGERS, MANIPULATION AND MIRAGES: HOW OIL COMPANIES KEEP GASOLINE PRICES HIGH, AND WHY THE ENERGY BILL DOESN'T HELP

Largest 5 oil companies now control
14% of global oil production (almost as much as OPEC)
48% of domestic production
50.3% of domestic refinery capacity
61.8% of the retail gas market
These same 5 also control 21.3% of domestic natural gas production.

More later, I've got a vigil to go to.

[sattahipdeep]

8. Abdullah's Farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Friday, August 5, 2005

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050805_v080505db-0431copyj-1-515h.html

[moondust]

9. Yep.

All other things being equal, when the price of their raw materials goes up their profits obviously should go down. But not these guys! They're jamming record profits into their pockets as fast as they can as U.S. drivers are fleeced of billions! "Republican times" are easily recognizable.

[anarch]

14. correct indeed

it seems these people specialize in defying all kinds of statistical and mathematical norms, from voter exit polls to economics. I wonder how far they can push the public before large numbers of people start to wake up to the fact that they're being totally screwed (and martial law has to be imposed...)

[Karmadillo]

10. Is this an issue where the Democrats could gain some traction?

I can't figure out why they're not pushing the issue of excess profits while the average voter watches transportation costs eat into the family budget.

[TheFarseer]

12. Amazing as it might be-

I'm not sure people connect high gas prices with bushco. Freepers think it's tree-huggers that won't allow new refineries and those darn muslims blowing up the pipe lines. Normal people probably just think it's their rotten luck.

[European Socialist]

17. Why didn't a few Dems stay in Washington to bad mouth Bush!

Until the Democrats start treating the Bush Presidency as an emergency-they won't get any traction.

[hootinholler]

11. So what ever happened to the

Windfall Profits Tax?

-Hoot

[DeepModem Mom]

16. kick

[rman]

19. Ok so the fact that we're running out has nothing to do with it?

Honestly, what do people think it means when "OPEC is running at near capacity"?

[johnaries]

26. No, "running out" has nothing to do with it. They are already pumping

out more than they predict they will need to in 2006 to meet increased demands, even making up for the possibility that they will need to help make up for other countries.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/17/news/international/opec.reut/index.htm

My "running at near capacity" was meant to show that the problem is not supply or a "shortage". The fact that reserves are up also demonstrates this.

We are being lied to.

[pimpbot]

20. My repuke coworker said...

"Ha, if you think gas prices are bad now, imagine what they'd be if Kerry was in office! We'd be up to $6"


HOLY SHIT I THINK MY HEAD JUST EXPLODED!

[kestrel91316]

21. Some of us figured this out a LONG time ago, lol.

[jsamuel]

22. We can't just keep sitting around on this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deminks]

23. I truly believe with all of my being

that this is what 9/11/01 was supposed to do. I have nothing to go on but what happened here in rural America on that day. I could see with my own eyes the gouging that went on that day, and the gouging under the radar that has gone on ever since. I can see the phenomenal profits these companies make hand over fist ever since. This is my belief, my tin hat, my conspiracy theory. The war isn't about democracy or revenge, or any other stupid thing. It is about oil and money for Bushbots, pure and simple, and they will do anything, kill anyone to get it. Lie, cheat and steal. "We don't care, We don't care, We don't care..." - their mantra.

[Cats Against Frist]

27. I think that the 2001/2002 energy crisis (looting of consumers)

on the West Coast, was a test run for the eventual fleecing of the entire country, through gas prices.

These people are fucking criminals, and should be in jail.