Why aren't more people ticked about gas prices???
FTCR's
research has exposed manipulation of domestic refining capacity and
inventories by American oil companies as the reason behind gasoline price
spikes, not the traditional scapegoats of Big Oil: OPEC, government regulation,
litigation, and environmental standards.
Oil Companies'
Profiteering to Blame for Gas Price Spike, Says FTCR
SANTA
MONICA, California - August 15 - The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
(FTCR) noted today that recent world profits by the oil industry shows
profiteering is to blame for the run-up at the pump.
FTCR's
research has exposed manipulation of domestic refining capacity and
inventories by American oil companies as the reason behind gasoline price
spikes, not the traditional scapegoats of Big Oil: OPEC, government regulation,
litigation, and environmental standards.
"In a commodities market, domestic oil
companies know that the lower the inventories they keep, the higher the profits,
because perceived shortages mean a speculative run-up in prices," said Jamie
Court, president of FTCR and author of Corporateering: How Corporater Power
Steals Your Personal Freedom and What You Can Do About It (Tarcher/Penguin.)
"Big Oil rigs summer time driving season for big profits by keeping inventories
low. Since Capitol Hill is complicit, it's up to states to enact laws that
restrict profiteering through reforms like an excess profits tax, public utility
regulation of refineries, and price controls. Big Oil may have Americans over a
barrel now, but $3 per gallon gasoline should spur statehouses to take matters
into their own hands. Every summer should not be open season for oil companies
to gouge American motorists."
Recent financial statements show oil
companies making new world record profits on top of last year's banner world
record profits. Exxon Mobil's second quarter earnings jumped 35 percent over
last year, Royal Dutch Shell rose 34 percent, ConocoPhillips shot up 51
percent.
Posted: Thu - August 18, 2005 at 07:34 PM