They claim the spring maintenance is the reason for the highest gas prices ever in this Country.

you'd think they'd be plannin ahead after all these years.

if oil were a truly competitive marketplace, instead of the corrupt, price fixing industry it has shown itself to be (and i don't need a court of law to tell me what is clear, that big oil doesn't really compete against one another...gas stations might, but oil companies don't) i would let it be...but year after year of this crap and the innocent denials from the industry is getting a bit nauseating.

but unfortunately, in the end, all that will happen is a couple of gas sation independent owners will go down, "abu gihrab" style.

Why are you complaining again?

Here is a little data from California...

January 1999


January 2007

source:Link

Crude oil costs are more than five times what they were eight years ago. Over half of the crude this country consumes comes from foreign sources. Big oil might be making record profits but the other half of the oil we consume is costing us just as much (and BTW you ignore again a previous point by Brad that their profit margins are really weak at something like 11%).

I know it hurts to go to the pump but the simple fact is that it costs more to drill for oil. I am not going to rehash all of the things I said before but you blame the execs for lining their pockets without a shred of proof. I can tell you, from experience, that that money works its way all the way down the pipeline. We are loosing an employee a month to other companies and they are leaving for as little as $15k more a year (most for double that). I am talking about accountants, regulatory people, well site supervisors ... you know the average Joe who works paycheck to paycheck.

So exactly who is claiming spring maintenance? Is this yet another of your inflammatory articles that has no basis in fact at all? Tune in again to the tired rantings of another idiot with an internet connection and a hatred for anybody who made better choices in life than him.

This is so ridiculous as usual.

With the obscene profits oil companies have received they have not built ANY new refineries in 20 years to deal with the supply issue they claim is why prices are high

. Oil companies can't just buy a patch of land and build a refinery. Do you understand who puts up the most obstacles when it comes to building new, cleaner refineries?

The increase in gas prices is FAR worse then any tax increase because it is harms ALL Americans and ALL American Business. For any of the conservatives that wail against tax increases, it is time to stop the rape by Big Oil!

Right col. Because taxing "big oil" as lefties put it, is going to reduce gas prices. Once more all you have done is made a clueless case for tax increases for someone else.

oil companies put up 1/2 assed efforts to show that they are trying...as soon as anyone voices an opposition, they throw up their hands and act helpless...big whoop.


and for the record, i'm not so sure about a tax, per se...but we can do better than the way we have let big oil run amock. and again, it isn't about the local 7-11 hittin me for an extra dime a gallon.

The state and federal governments already get more per gallon than the oil companies. If anyone is guilty of gouging, it's our own elected officials. This has NOTHING to do with the increase in gas prices

Just John

From you chart--Look at Refinery Cost and PROFIT 1999 was about $.28 in Feb 2007 $.75. No matter what BS you spew, the profits BIG OIL is showing would not be increasing like they are if they were just increasing prices to cover higher COSTS!

What is this? Summer Re-runs? We had this conversation before and it's as if Gene simply chose to ignore it.

Using loaded language like "obscene profits" doesn't make it so.

If I make $300 billion and $30 billion is profit, that's only a 10% margin which is hardly "obscene".

again,,,can't speak for the col,,, but i look at it as more of an issue that this industry is anti-competitive. and no baker, i don't have all the answers there, but it does irk me. everytime i look at that industry there is a lot of happenstance that always seems to end up meaning they make more money. and the sob stories from the industry really don't impress me or give me much confidence.

that's all i'm sayin,,,i'm not trying to dictate anything to anyone. i just think a closer look might be in order.

For over 30 years the oil companies have been begging for help in getting new refineries built. The environmentalist have blocked every chance we had of having lower oil prices by blocking Nuclear Power Plants to the point that if you wanted to build one it will take 40 years of environmental paper work and studies before the first piece of dirt can be moved in order to build the plant. It takes thirty years from the time they finish the law suits to stop them before they can start building a refinery. 20 years ago the oil companies said they needed new refineries in order to keep up with demand. The environmental groups said that we don’t need more refineries we need to conserve and not drive gas guzzling cars. 20 years have passed and just as they predicted we are not keeping up with demand. The refineries 20 years ago they were at 70% capacity, now they are at 95% capacity. This means that when they shut down a section of the refinery for maintenance there is no refinery in the nation that can pick up the slack which would keep prices stable so any problem with any refinery means higher gas prices.
I don’t understand why liberals get upset when the price of oil or petrol goes up. the environmentalist have been saying for 30 years that petrol should be $5.00 a gallon or higher in order to save the planet. It is what these people want and now we hear complaints because the oil companies are the ones making the money. Who did they think was going to make the money? My family used to own a gas station and by law the gas station is only allowed to make .03 cents per gallon, not profit but gross. .87 cents a gallon went to the government and by federal law the oil companies can only make .10 cents a gallon leaving the rest as the cost to buy the oil and refine the oil into gasoline, who makes the lions share of the profit? Investors that set the price of oil the next biggest winner is the government. Keep in mind that in order to buy the oil at higher prices is paid from the profits earned. That means that if the nuts get their way and tax the profits of oil companies where will the oil companies get the money to buy more oil?
Lets try to think ahead, we need new oil refineries just to keep up with current demand and new refineries to deal with future requirements. One way to bring the price of oil down is to build nuclear power plants which would mean the oil used to fuel power plants could be used to make more gasoline meaning lower prices. If we do this then under current laws in 50 years we can lower gas prices by three dollars the problem is by then the price of petrol will be about 30 dollars a gallon. The chance we had to bring down oil prices passed 20 years ago. Aren’t you people happy we listened to them back then? How much better the world is because we allowed nuts to block our growth potential?

That cost is in the crude oil price. The retail price of refined product is what the Oil Companies control by how much they refine of each product. They also control that by not investing in more refining capacity so they keep the supply low relative to demand. Oil in not Free enterprise. It is a closely controlled business of an essential commode and the oil companies with the concurrence of the federal government are allowed to screw the public and business. It is time we all insist we tax away the profit that is unreasonable and that results from their manipulation of the supply of refined product. They can impact Gas prices by just shifting more oil to fuel oil rather then gas. They can reverse that and drive up heating oil by refining more gas and creating a shortage of heating oil!

Before you speew any more of this "ignorant" drivel, go read reply #17 and learn something.

becouse the liberals and the democrats want the 5.00 a gallion to be taxes not profits

this is not a liberal vs. conservative thing in the least. the discontent with the price of gas isn't a party matter as i see it. where blame is based might be more partissan, but not the price and the crunch on the wallet.

The solution is, though. There's nothing "conservative" about imposed price ceilings and punitive taxation on profits. Conservatives who propose such are departing from their philosophy.