Exxon buys Mobil.
Chevron buys Texaco.
BP buys Amoco.

The industry has consolidated itself. Anything else followed suit? Why yes.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange buys the Chicago Board of Trade. CME group is formed.
NYMEX buys stake in Dubai Oil exchange.
CME Group buys NYMEX.

The US Federal Trade Commission approved every single one of these mergers and acquisitions.

The industry doesn’t want to be nationalized. I doubt they think that’s right around the corner. But they are “nationalizing” themselves so to speak.

Our elected officials have been coalesced to support umpteen different fuel formulas. Environmental advocates have supported these fuel formulas. Politicians have supported them. Auto makers have supported them. Heck, even the refineries supported them. Does that make any sense? Why would industrial forces SUPPORT regulation of their industry?

The refineries DO NOT lobby to lift the number of fuel formulas they are obligated to produce by law. They hardly lifted a hair to oppose them.

This is where our problem lies. We have given industry the supply control mechanism they need to dictate prices at the pump. The other catalyst is the flat and shrinking number of oil refineries. Do you know how costly it is to ship these refined fuel formulas from Venezuela? Do you know how costly it is to ship these refined fuel formulas from Nigeria? We do import refined gasoline that has already met the various fuel formula standards passed by government throughout the states.

The speculators are making bets in the market that NONE of these policies is going to change. They’re right. The changes that WILL be made are going to make $140 per barrel oil look like a bargain.

Be prepared for an oil price shock. It’s about to rocket in price and subsequently crash.

you know i had forgotten all about that little scam!! at least it explains why wise_man and terrye continue to post so positively on mccain. even on issues where they have been thoroughly thrashed.
chasdal on June 17, 2008 at 11:16 PM

I find it disgusting to see when so called ‘conservatives’ use the same tactics on McCain that they used on Bush for the last 7 years. I’m not posting passionately ‘for’ McCain, but more accurately, against lying sacks of sh*t who come here with one goal, to make sure they convince enough real conservatives to not vote for the winner of the republican primaries and by default, help to elect Barack Obama.

And the only thing that will be so thoroughly thrashed is this nation, if Obama is elected.

misterpeasea on June 17, 2008 at 9:12 PM

So you never explained it before, are you a ‘conservative’ who hates McCain so much that you aren’t going to vote for him, and hope everyone else doesn’t due to your persuasion by constant trash talking, lies and half-truths about him, allowing Obama to win because more people will end up voting for him ..

or

are you a liberal posing as a conservative on a conservative site who wants the same thing, less people to vote for McCain because all of your trash talk, lies and half-truths about McCain here on an hourly bases, while you and much more people vote for Obama?

So which one is it?

Obama equating the oil industry with the US population is rich as he calls us evil.

But if there is no shortage, then why have prices gone up so high if its ONLY supply and demand driving prices…

I don’t follow the logic of your question. The fact that supply and demand determine a price doesn’t place any inherent restriction on what the price can be. If quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied at the going price, the price is bid up until it reaches a market-clearing level. This is “day 1″ stuff.

Also, cost is reflected in the supply curve. The supply curve is a cost curve — in fact, it’s the part of the marginal cost curve lying above the average variable cost curve.

I was listening to the radio on my way to work and there was talk of a new hybrid that emits only water vapor. When the president of the auto company was told that there were no recharging stations for cars like that he pointed out that there were no gas stations when Ford put the Model T on the market.

I heard about this on Glenn Beck last night. It’s from a Japanese auto maker, Toyota, I think. Anyway, they are only going to make 200 of them, they will only be leased, and they will only be available in Cali because they have some filling stations there. The price of the car is somewhere around 100K. That’s why they are being leased.

“If that plan sounds familiar, it’s because that was President Carter’s big idea, too. …I’m all for recycling, but it’s better applied to paper and plastic than to the failed policies of the 1970s,” the Republican presidential contender said in excerpts of a speech planned for Tuesday evening…

Now that’s funny – I dont care who you are. And true too.

Good gosh. How many points are you racking up trying to obfuscate McCain’s policy stances? Did you get today’s talking points?

misterpeasea on June 17, 2008 at 9:12 PM

you know i had forgotten all about that little scam!! at least it explains why wise_man and terrye continue to post so positively on mccain. even on issues where they have been thoroughly thrashed.

on may 4th mccain made statements that any reasonable person would interpret to mean he was in favor of a windfall profit tax. now he is slamming obama on this subject. he has changed his position. you can parse his words to justify that he never specifically said the words “i am in favor of a windfall profit tax” and you would be correct but he did every to give the impression he was in favor of that policy. he has been slamming the business community since back when he criticized romney for working to make a profit while he was serving his country. he conveniently forgot to mention he then married a sugarmama so he doesnt have to have a real job.

as i stated before, the straight talk express shouldnt need to have its statements and comments explained. they should be easily undertandable the first time around.

but thats what you get when you support the ny times endorsed candidate.

Interesting, cause the link above, if you can actualy get to it said US alone produces 8% of the worldwide oil.

Romeo13 on June 17, 2008 at 4:55 PM

.
The US is the third largest producer of oil in the world, behind Russian and Saudi (though Saudi may take the lead again, with their recent decision to up production). But, the US uses more than twice as much oil as it produces, so we import the rest, mostly from Canada, Mexico, and NOCs.

The survey found that a plurality of Democrats (37%) believe the oil industry should be nationalized. Just 32% of voters in Barack Obama’s party disagree with that approach. Republicans oppose nationalizing the oil industry by a 66% to 16% margin. Unaffiliated voters are opposed by a 47% to 33% margin…

.
That just proves that the ignorant people are clustered in the democratic party, but we pretty much knew that already.

Republicans oppose nationalizing the oil industry by a 66% to 16% margin.

What????

2 out of 3 oppose, while 1 of three support or are undecided?

If this poll is a credible representation, then 1/3rd of the GOP needs a good slap across the face.

wise_man on June 17, 2008 at 8:24 PM

Good gosh. How many points are you racking up trying to obfuscate McCain’s policy stances? Did you get today’s talking points?

I thought only Democrats tried to hide who they really were until they got elected.

John McCain is for amnesty. Why try to hide it?

John McCain is for unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. Why try to hide it?

John McCain has been taken in by the global warming hoax and wants to tax the poop out of us to “fight” it. Why try to hide it?

John McCain wants to close Gitmo and bring the terrorists to the US. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s aware of our laws, and knows that bringing the terrorists into the jurisdiction of the federal courts will give them rights under the Constitution. Thus, McCain wants to give constitutional rights to the terrorists. Why try to hide it?

His votes are a matter of public record. You can’t hide them. His statements, on obscene profits and CEO pay and forcing oil companies to give profits back and invest in alternative energy, are all a matter of public record. You can’t hide them.

Sitting on this board and yapping about lies and getting exercised at criticism of John McCain is not convincing.

Everybody on this board knows that John McCain is a liberal. Some are going to vote for him anyway, and some are not.

Deal with it.

Come on people, let’s be Progressive, B E Progressive. (picture cheerleaders w/ short skirts while you read that, I know I did)

In other words, he doesn’t like obscene profits(never promises to do anything about it) will look into it(still not promising anything) and then says that (obscene profits) don’t bother him.

Setting the record straight =/= ‘explaining a flip flop’ that McCain never made.

hmmm, well it seems like mccain has flip-flopped on the windfall tax. but then i read in the comments wise_man explaining in great length how this isnt a flip-flop.

Which comment are you talking about, chasdal?

offshore drilling. he is on record opposing that going back to the 2000 election. and it shows he has no clue about federalism when he tries to push this as a state’s decision. but he has the gall to say the feds should ban drilling in ANWR! get him a poli sci major to explain federalism and the Constitution (mccain-feingold)