Don't Blame Big Oil!

[Phoebe Ann]

What were you saying when gasoline hit $4 last year? Were you blaming the oil companies? Perhaps you sent the e-mails around asking others to boycott big oil companies like Exxon or Shell on certain days. My position has always been that it was the futures traders. I still believe that. If Big Oil was responsible, why aren't they raising the prices now instead of sharing 2nd quarter earnings that took a nose dive?

[url]http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/107456/100-million-payday-poses-problem-for-pay-czar.html[/URL]

"Regulators are pushing to curb the role of traders like Mr. Hall, whose speculation in the energy markets may have played a major role in the recent gyrations of oil prices. That suggests that last summer, drivers paid more at the pump, at least in part, because of people like Andrew J. Hall."

Why do they do it? Because they can. Same with those life-time members of welfare. Because they can.

Maybe we should drug test them all and prevent them all from reproducing.

 

[TriggerTime]

The average rate of return on capital invested for major U.S. oil companies (i.e., those that are not state owned as is true in other countries) is about 12 to 15%. About average for well run businesses, but less than many.

The price spike last year was the low value of the U.S. dollar (oil is traded world wide in dollars) and traders taking advantage of the market because as long as they have trading partners willing to participate, they go where they can make money.

I've never heard any cry to help out the oil companies during price collapses (like 1986, 1992, 2000). I also don't recall any federal ballouts when companies collapsed and thousands of hard working people lost their jobs in the industry in Texas in the 1980's. If that had happened to Detroit, there would have been bailouts. But Houston and Midland don't count.

 

[country_boy]

well said. The government taxes dont help either

 

[MadMo44Mag]

The average rate of return on capital invested for major U.S. oil companies (i.e., those that are not state owned as is true in other countries) is about 12 to 15%. About average for well run businesses, but less than many.

The price spike last year was the low value of the U.S. dollar (oil is traded world wide in dollars) and traders taking advantage of the market because as long as they have trading partners willing to participate, they go where they can make money.

I've never heard any cry to help out the oil companies during price collapses (like 1986, 1992, 2000). I also don't recall any federal ballouts when companies collapsed and thousands of hard working people lost their jobs in the industry in Texas in the 1980's. If that had happened to Detroit, there would have been bailouts. But Houston and Midland don't count.

++1

 

[cuate]

Can put a lot of blame in a lot of places but Big Oil and Wall Street speculators come to mind. Then did you know that the American Compainies on the North Slope of Alaska sold out to a foreign company ? BP, thats British Petroleum now owning the oil going down the Alaskan pipeline and it is said it goes to places like Japan and China,
not our own refineries. I am glad Texas is big on refineries, great for the Texas economy (Like around Houston). Kalifornia doesn't want them on their soil, so motor fuel costs a hell of a lot more there...Be nice if Texas refineries could/would process out natural gas into motor fuel via a German process invented over 60 years ago and let the folks up north go back to burning corn cobs, wood, or coal.......

 

[Okierifleman]

Just FYI, I understand that sending oil out of Alaska to other countries is kind of hard to swallow, but, that is the way it is done the world over. There are a lot of US companies buying up small oil companies in other countrys and moving their oil back here, so lets not go cutting off capitalism just yet. It is congress and the tree huggers that have refused to open up a lot of territory to ease the supply side. And, before you start slamming BP, have you checked to see how many Americans that foreign own company employs? What about Shell for that matter?

 

[M. Sage]

I'd lay a lot of blame on the government. We can't exploit any of the resources we have here, so we're stuck relying almost entirely on foreign sources. The fuel price spike last year was due mainly to demand and the biggest bottleneck was in getting the fuel refined and to the customers was at the refineries.

The EPA hasn't allowed a new refinery to be built in how long, now?

 

[kingofwylietx]

I've never heard any cry to help out the oil companies during price collapses (like 1986, 1992, 2000). I also don't recall any federal ballouts when companies collapsed and thousands of hard working people lost their jobs in the industry in Texas in the 1980's. If that had happened to Detroit, there would have been bailouts. But Houston and Midland don't count.

You can add 2009 to that list for oil/natural gas companies. I know a lot of oil/gas companies that have laid off 25-75% of their employees in the past several months.