Posted on 05/08/2007 2:07:54 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Democrats slam Big Oil over $3 gasoline prices Tue May 8, 2007 4:46PM EDT
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top Democrat on Tuesday accused big oil companies of shutting down refineries temporarily to raise gasoline prices and rake in"obscene profits."
Gasoline prices have topped $3 a gallon at service stations across the country because several oil refineries are offline due to maintenance or accidents, reducing gasoline production and making fuel supplies tight.
"It's outrageous ...Isn't it interesting every year about this time, a refinery goes down for repairs," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
"Is that coincidental? Or is it part of a plan that these multinational, huge companies who are making obscene profits in the tens of billions of dollars -- is this part of their game to keep the profits going?" Reid said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced seven congressional hearings in coming weeks on soaring energy prices and plans to put together a proposed package of energy bills by July 4 to address the issue.
"With Memorial Day travel and the start of summer driving only a few weeks away, drivers are paying a heavy price for the Bush administration's failure to enact a comprehensive energy strategy," said Pelosi.
"Years of Bush administration policies that have favored Big Oil over the consumers have resulted in record dependence on foreign oil," the California Democrat added.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
With the large build up before hand, I wonder if some of them were expecting a longer than normal downtime due to some upgrades or more extensive modifications.
See post 61.
referance ping
And they take big money from Enviro-whackos that have demanded 50 different blends of gasoline and cause inflated prices everytime the seasons change as refineries switch blends to adjust for winter-to-summer and summer-to-winter changes.
The Libs have to blame big oil to hide the fact that they have caused this shortage.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Plant is wearing out all over the place. Not to the point of collapse, mind you, but to the point that more and more maintenance will be required. BP can't get their thumbs out of their arseholes at Texas City, and that hurts. Brent is selling about $3.00 over WTI, and that pushes up price for imports. Valero McKee is still having problems getting online completely (if I understand correctly, not always the case). In short, it's a rather vicious confluence of events...and I haven't listed all of them here by any means.
The refiners had better get their act together as best they can. Those Marxist clowns, esp. in the Senate, are just slavering to write more '70s-style regulations.
And, before you ask, NO, they didn't learn an effing thing from their last go at regulatory (cough, choke) ''improvements''.
Right you are. Gov’t is about milking productive citizens’ wealth in any fashion they think they can get away with.
and i bet every single one of them has a direct investment or a fund that invests in those same companies.
Profit is in the different sections, but oil company total profits on total revenues are typically ~10%
2006 ExxonMobil
$39.5B profit on $365.5B revenue, 10.8% profit
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/34088/000119312507042435/d10k.htm#fin59931_2
2006 ConocoPhilliops
%15.5B profit on $183.7B revenue, 8.4% profit
http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007+News+Releases/012407.htm
my ship is sitting at a berth at ExxonMobil’s Baytown refinery complex (Houston), where we’ve been sitting idle along with 2 Aframax crude carriers for 24 hrs. I’ll admit that there’s a lot of fuel for conspiracy-mongering... my guys are grumbling because they’re baking in the sun, while we’re sitting idle at the dock, with a full load of VGO. Thing is, my ship alone, with misc charter and fuel costs, is costing $60,000/day to Exxon, who chartered us 5 days ago. The reasons for our being retained at the dock with a full load of product change with every refinery shift (none of them are related to each other).
My take is that Exxon either has 1)idiots running the logistics department, 2) Something in Operations to hide or 3) gross inefficiencies that caused a failure through additive effects of multiple errors at some level. My vote is #3, which, admittedly, could be taken by a paranoid outsider to be a conspiracy.
Either way, Houston is an armpit, courtesy of the refinery presence.
I would guess refineries have been operating far in excess of the recommended % of capacity for some time now.
Victory in Iraq would help reduce oil prices, but the DemoSocialists are hoping for defeat.
As do I remember...queueing....especially difficult when your house has gas stations on the west and east corners, and it takes 5 minutes to get out of the driveway because of the same line.
Everything posted here so far, no matter how factual and common-sensical, means zot.
The average dummie out there in voterland again sees that the Dims are on the side of the little guys. The mostly-ignorant and easily-inflamed public only sees and hears whats in the MSM. Only a comparatively handful of voters reads, watches or hears conservative radio, internet forums or blogs like we do.
Gas prices for the family car is a personal issue that's filling every driving voter full of rage. Didn't the stupid GOP leaders see that the Dims would grab the initiative on this issue with their usual propaganda and inflamatory rhetoric? The voters really think the Dims are the political party on their side, and I don't blame them.
I would have dropped dead if the GOP leadership had jumped on some part of the gasoline issue a long time ago and pre-empted today's donkey rhetoric.
I'm here live and in person at the moment because I DIDN'T have to drop dead thanks to a tone-deaf president and comotose elected Republicans.
Knowing the current stupid party as well as I do, I'm not surprised at all at being alive today.
Leni
Oh, geeze! Formulating a comprehensive energy strategy was ONE OF THE VERY FIRST THINGS that Bush did on taking office, way back in his very first term. IIRC they had legislation before Congress within just a few months!
The Dimocrats not only obstructed the legislation, they refused -- REFUSED -- to even debate it's merits on substantive grounds, or to offer alternatives or amendments. Instead they instituted a LAWSUIT demanding all the details of how Cheney and others in the administration went about formulating the policy, who they met with, what was discussed, etc, etc. AFAIK that legal challenge may still be in play.
IOW the Dims had the actual policy and legislation before them, but wouldn't even talk about it, instead pursuing a purely ad hominem attack on the principle author (Cheney).
And now the Dimocrats control Congress. Why don't THEY propose legislation implementing a "comprehensive energy strategy"? No, all they can do is decry the fact that oil companies dare make a profit.
"Is that coincidental? Or is it part of a plan that these multinational, huge companies who are making obscene profits in the tens of billions of dollars -- is this part of their game to keep the profits going?" Reid said.
Harry, You obviously have more experience in corrupt, backroom deals that enrich corrupt, fat-cat criminals than do we. Maybe you can further enlighten us.
For instance, how would one go about selling a piece of property and collecting $1.1 million in profit a few years later? Which mobbed up attorney, prone to political bribery should one retain?
Please, Harry. Please continue to educate us in the ways of corrupt business and politics. Please do!
X amount of capacity is simply offline, for one reason or another.
Now that they are in charge, lets see them do something about it. LOL.
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