A New look on oil companies. What are your thoughts?
LET OIL COMPANIES EARN AS MUCH AS THEY WANT
by Joe McLeod
Special to the Sentinel
As gasoline prices soar higher by the minute, it seems unconscionable that oil companies are earning "record" profits. For example, ExxonMobile pulled in a whopping $10 billion in profits just in the first quarter alone; yet the average price of gas now is creeping beyond $4 a gallon. Many politicians claim that, to solve this problem, we must go after the oil companies. After all, they are the ones making these ridiculous profits while we, the consumers, are incurring additional expenses to pay for it.
But what if we looked at this issue from an entirely different perspective?
Instead of suppressing and mitigating the ability for oil companies to make money, what if we enabled them to make even more? Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
But think about it: Profit margins and lofty executive salaries do not harm anyone. Granted, it seems unfair that these companies are making out like bandits, financially, while gas prices continue to skyrocket. But if Congress tries to make it "fair" by instituting a windfall-profits tax or imposing frivolous regulations that make it harder for these companies to produce and distribute the product, WE will ultimately pay for it.
For too long we've been consumed with the notion that we must attack the oil companies because they are making too much money off the back of hard-working Americans. And by doing so, this will make gas more affordable. But out economy doesn't work that way.
Some members of Congress are foolish to believe that they can wage war on private industry without harming the middle and lower classes, who live and work beneath the umbrella of free enterprise. It is good for oil companies to make money, and a lot of it. Strong profits contribute to a healthy economy which benefits ALL of us. No, it isn't always "fair." But what if we decide to be OK with that? We need to ask ourselves, what do we want most? Do we want to "stick it" to the oil companies, or do we want cheaper fuel?
We need to encourage Congress to quit being so preoccupied with attacking the oil companies and look for "realistic" solutions to the problem.
The first and major step is for Congress to get out of the way. It must stop impeding every endeavor these private companies make to produce and refine oil. Putting more oil in the market increases the supply, which naturally brings the cost of fuel down. It's a basic law of economics; supply and demand. If, during the process, oil companies get rich, who cares? We can ALL win here. But if we keep attacking the industry that brings us the product, we will all lose.
It's time to change our thinking about this issue. We certainly have the ability to acquire more oil, build more refineries, and make the cost of gas much cheaper, without harming the environment. But we must be willing to get "real" and stop worrying about private-sector profit margins.
Published Wednesday, June 11, 2008 in the Orlando Sentinel.
Last edited by Testrackwoman; 06-19-2008 at 21:49 PM.
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Some of this actually makes since. The US government poses too many regulations on US oil companies. I know the regulations are good thoughts to save the enviroment such as we can't drill in Montana, Colorado, Alaska, and were killing fish in the Gulf!.....BUT.....every other country is producing more and of course we are buying from them so that alone raises our prices and we are ultimatly supporting another country and possibley that other country is a terrorist country....The Carribean sea is just below the Gulf of Mexico, not too far from the US, guess who is drilling for oil there? CHINA! These other countries don't care about the wildlife and the enviroment! I'm not saying we need to drill for oil and kill off endangered species but we need to keep our country and our citizens financially strong before another country decides to overpower us.
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I STILL don't see why Bush doesn't lift the lid on the Strategic Oil Reserve... instead of a tax vacation -- let's use some of those millions and millions of gallons of oil we're sitting on and feeding into still everyday....
Life is something that you can't control.
When you try to hold on to it, it makes you let go!
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What if we just quit exporting food and other products necessary to the rest of the world and not allow imports without price limits. It is a world economy, I thought.
jmo
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The is a great article. I pretty well reinforces what I have saying for quite some time. Strong arming oil companies by taxing them into oblivion will only compound the real issue at hand.
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No one has really answered the question of why should we not use the close to 727 million barrels of oil that are just sitting in the ground??? Talk about places to "drill" -- why not open the tap and let it flow??? Not all of it, just enough to curb the costs right now.
No one needs to be passing legislation about drilling or taxing oil companies or anything until the next president gets into office.
I could be stupid -- but I don't see why we don't start using some of the oil we've been "putting in the bank" for the last 30+ years... when times get rough.. you turn to your savings.
Life is something that you can't control.
When you try to hold on to it, it makes you let go!
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Note: Loans are made on a case-by-case basis to alleviate supply disruptions. Once conditions return to normal, the loan is returned to the SPR with additional oil as interest.
* April-May 1996 - 900,000 barrels (143,000 m³) lent to ARCO to alleviate pipeline blockage.
* August 1998 - 11 million barrels (1,700,000 m³) lent to PEMEX in return for 8.5 million barrels (1,350,000 m³) of higher quality crude.
* June 2000 - 1 million barrels (160,000 m³) lent to Citgo and Conoco in response to shipping channel blockage.
* July-August 2000 - 2.8 million barrels (450,000 m³) to supply the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.
* September-October 2000 - 30 million barrels (4,800,000 m³) in response to a concern over low distillate levels in the North-eastern U.S.
* October 2002 - 296,000 barrels (47,100 m³) lent to Shell Pipeline Company in advance of Hurricane Lili.
* September-October 2004 - 5.4 million barrels (860,000 m³) lent to Astra Oil, ConocoPhillips, Placid Refining Company, Shell Oil Company, and Premcor after Hurricane Ivan.
* September-October 2005 - 9.8 million barrels (1,560,000 m³) lent to ExxonMobil, Placid Refining, Valero, BP, Marathon Oil, and Total S.A. after Hurricane Katrina.
* January-February 2006 -767 thousand barrels lent to Total Petrochemicals USA due to closure of the Sabine Neches ship channel to deep-draft vessels after a barge accident in the channel.[14]
* June 2006 - 750,000 barrels (119,000 m³) of sour crude lent to ConocoPhillips and Citgo due to the closure for several days of the Calcasieu Ship Channel caused by the release of a mixture of storm water and oil. Repaid in early October 2006.
Life is something that you can't control.
When you try to hold on to it, it makes you let go!
No one has really answered the question of why should we not use the close to 727 million barrels of oil that are just sitting in the ground??? Talk about places to "drill" -- why not open the tap and let it flow??? Not all of it, just enough to curb the costs right now.
No one needs to be passing legislation about drilling or taxing oil companies or anything until the next president gets into office.
I could be stupid -- but I don't see why we don't start using some of the oil we've been "putting in the bank" for the last 30+ years... when times get rough.. you turn to your savings.
Apparently they still put oil into our reserve every time they get some.
You want Ugly? I know Ugly!!!
