[bigbob]

This article misses the elephant in the room.

National Oil Companies (NOC) accounted for 52% global oil production and controlled 88% of proven oil reserves as of 2007. A NOC is an oil company where the majority ownership is held by a national government, such as Petrobras, Aramco, or Gazprom.

International Oil Companies (IOC) such as ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, or BP are in the minority and on the decline in terms of power and influence, including outside their national borders.

And I think we all know which truly does not have US interests at heart.

[Chode]

Hess Oil Venezuela plant on St.Croix

Pump Prices Expected to Fall as Hovensa Lowers Rack Rate

By Source Staff — May 24, 2011

After months of rising prices that took the cost of gasoline in the territory to the $4-a-gallon range, Hovensa announced Tuesday that it was lowering its rack rate.

The rack rate is the wholesale price of fuel purchased directly from the refinery’s truck-loading station on St. Croix. The rate influences retail gasoline prices in the territory because independent gas station operators can buy their gasoline at the loading station, then resell it to their customers.

The rate change was announced in an email from a company official. No one from the company was available to the Source for comment Tuesday.

According to the announcement, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped 33 cents, or 9.24 percent, from $3.57 to $3.24.

The price of a gallon of premium-grade gasoline dropped 25 cents, or 7 percent, from $3.68 to $3.43.