When you make $1300 a second...

[Stephen Eisel]

by controlling both refining and distribution they have total control over supply.

How about the suppliers of the oil, OPEC, Venezuela, Mexico and Canada? And why haven't the oil companies built a new refinery in over 30 years?

[Jeff Endress]

And why haven't the oil companies built a new refinery in over 30 years?

Multiple choice:

1) Because those damn tree hugging enviromentalists have made it too costly
2) Because the old outdated facilities are sufficient to meet demand
3) Because the oil companies have insuffient capital to make the investment
4) Because the price of refined oil fluctuates with demand and it's better to keep capacity for refineries just at the level that's actually needed

Jeff

[Stephen Eisel]

And why haven't the oil companies built a new refinery in over 30 years?

Multiple choice:

1) Because those damn tree hugging enviromentalists have made it too costly
2) Because the old outdated facilities are sufficient to meet demand
3) Because the oil companies have insuffient capital to make the investment
4) Because the price of refined oil fluctuates with demand and it's better to keep capacity for refineries just at the level that's actually needed

Jeff

1

[Stephen Eisel]

2) Because the old outdated facilities are sufficient to meet demand
3) Because the oil companies have insuffient capital to make the investment
4) Because the price of refined oil fluctuates with demand and it's better to keep capacity for refineries just at the level that's actually needed

2 is false (obviously)
3 is false (have you seen their profits )
4 semi true...

[Jeff Endress]

I'm sorry Stephen

You have been disqualified. I clearly stated it was a multiple choice quiz, and true/false responses, were not permitted

Jeff

[Will Brown]

[quote
Good point. My feeble little mind is incapable of understanding all the "hard" work these people do. I am at the limits of my brain to imagine the huge amounts of cash they make each and every second.

But perhaps, the dimness of my brain permits me to notice little things like:
- by controlling both refining and distribution they have total control over supply. This let's them set the price. Collusion may be a big word for simple me but I think it fits. OPEC raises the price of oil and I see an increase at the pumps within hours or days. If the price drops, I'll see it drop a week or two later at the pumps. Our profiteering Oil companies cash in on both sides of these changes....

Before we add additional taxes on the consumer at the pump could we please stop running a country to serve these oil companies. Maybe then they won't have enough spare change to kill other industries like Wind generators....[/quote]

If Exxon has such complete control over the petroleum industry, perhaps you could explain just where in Lakewood you go to buy gas from them?

And if they so completely control the cost of gasoline, why does the price vary between service stations?

Certainly you can supply some citations showing when you have witnessed the price of gasoline increasing in lockstep with the cost of petroleum, but not decreasing when the price of petroleum declines. A few instances? Even one instance? You can't because you apparently lack an understanding of how the industry works. Simply put, what is often cited as the cost of oil is the spot price, but is not the price paid by the bulk of the industry, which works with long-term contracts. And not all products produced from oil at the refinery are gasoline.

As for the tax breaks you decry, many of them simply accelerated depreciation, others extended depreciation to more closely match the useful lives of the assets, and you perhaps failed to grasp that the changes included measures to encourage the production of nuclear energy and the production of energy from alternative sources such as wind, biomass and geothermal means. I say again, tax breaks for the production of nuclear energy and the production of energy from alternative sources such as wind, biomass and geothermal means.

And I'm a bit curious how and why the petroleum industry has destroyed the windpower "industry" when they don't appear to supply the same markets. Actually, I believe some energy companies, which could include petroleum companies, have done some research and experimentation in the windpower industry, as some electricity is generated with natural gas, a product they handle, and they realize there is a limited future for natural gas (and oil, for that matter). But the bird-murdering wind power industry is not successful because it cannot provide enough power, in most areas, to make the huge investment in equipment worthwhile.

[Stephen Eisel]

I'm sorry Stephen

You have been disqualified. I clearly stated it was a multiple choice quiz, and true/false responses, were not permitted

Jeff

Jeff, I had fun playing

[Mark Crnolatas]

We've had the technology and ability to have cars that use alternate energy for a very long time. The behind-the-scenes control and influence of the mega-corps oil companies ie: Exxon and the like, do not sit back and just 'let" oil become any less necessary to us. Odd how those alternate energy vehicles have come and then vanished. (sarcasm).

Saw a good documentary on this quite a few years ago.

Mark Allan Crnolatas