It's Coca Cola's fault! Or the bakers.
OK kids. Today Uncle Amendment X is going to do a lame imitation of a Dr. Walter E. Williams type economic lesson.
Now, we all know that the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.05 nationally. And the Dumbcrats want you to believe many reasons are behind this price rise. All their reasons are wrong. Dead wrong. They want you to believe that:
- Very evil oil company executives are drooling at the thought that Grandma has to select between Alpo or Purina Dry dog food as those nasty executives are going through her retirement check with higher oil prices and therefore higher prices on everything. Well, they reckon that Granny can set fire to her table to keep warm this winter. And besides, when Grandma dies, well, less worry about that Social Security/Medicare thing you know.
- "Speculators" are driving up the cost of oil because they are greedy bastards and were also spawned from the same malevolent, vile, recalcitrant, sinful seed that produces oil company executives.
- Republicans- well, just because.
- OPEC- well worth a lawsuit, they say!
Global warming. Sorry. Climate Change! (Hard to keep up with the changing terms you know). Brought on by all the above.- YOU! You vile consuming prigs! Hurting Gaia while little children someplace are starving. And polar bears are drowning. How dare you think you have freedom to drive, eat, keep warm! WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH FOR YOU?!?!?
Now, whenever there is an increase in gas prices, as surely as the sun rises in the east, Congress hauls oil company executives into a hearing room, screams at them then commissions yet another study about collusion and price fixing within the industry. Well, review the following graph (compliments of Powerline):
Now, click on the above image. Go to the titles on the x axis and read across. Let's see, we have NIOC (the national oil company of Iran), Aramco (the Saudi Arabia national oil company) and Kuwait, Iraq, PEMEX (controlled by Mexico). Notice number 14- Exxon/Mobil. To finally come across a publicly traded (meaning private citizens own the company) you have to go to the company that is 14th on the list of how much oil/gas they control. As the chart says, 94% of all the oil and gas in the world is controlled by national oil companies. Exxon/Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Chevron, Conoco/Phillips are all owned by schlubs like you, me, Grandma and Grandpa, pension funds. Not tyrants like Hugo Chavez or a thousand princes from the House of Saud or the Royal Family of Kuwait.
Exxon/Mobil, Chevron and the others are more correctly called oil refiners, or gasoline/diesel refiners. These companies buy the oil they refine from the Aramcos/PEMEXs of the world. They are caught in a squeeze because their cost of materials has increased. So, when the trolls in Congress haul the execs from Chevron, et al before them and scream about gas prices, well, this makes as much sense as screaming at Coca Cola for high Coke prices when the price of corn goes up (high fructose corn syrup is the most expensice ingredient in Coke. And Pepsi, etc.). Or screaming at bakers for the high price of bread when there is a wheat bust and the price of wheat goes through the roof. Go here to read what I wrote about Congress and oil/gasoline two years ago. And yesterday, they, the Dumbcrats, refused to allow drilling 50 miles off shore on the continental shelf.
Save us from Congress!
posted by Amendment X at 11:44 PM permalink
2 Comments:
I don't understand what point you are trying to make with that graph. And since it is removed from the original context it was in, how can I believe what you say it is intended to mean? The fact of the matter is "National Oil Company" often refers to nationalized oil companies. IE:Socialism, not private oil companies. There is also a "World National Oil Companies Congress", which consists of a lot of OPEC NACs (National Oil COmpanies), and some western openly traded corporations. That graph amazingly seems to represent thier memmbership, NOT someone trying to imply private corporations control all the oil. Or have I missed your point?
I included the link to Powerline in the article. And I believe you entirely missed my point.
That the seven private oil companies control only 6% of the worlds natural gas and oil indicates that Congress is again duplicitous in hauling the CEO's before a Congressional panel.
These CEO's have stockholders they are responsible to, along with being heavily regulated and taxed. The nationally owned oil companies are answerable only to themselves and have only what regulations may suit the owners, namely the ruling entity in that country.
It may or may not be socialism (The Royal House of Saud for instance is a kingdom as is most of the middle east).
May I suggest you read the article again?
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