[thackney]

companies are vertically integrated and buy very little, if any, crude on the open market

I think if you look at the actual numbers, you would be surprised. For example, ExxonMobil buys more crude oil than the produce themselves.

Part of the reason for this is the large world production by National companies where most of the worlds refining is done by investor owned companies.

[Bigun]

ExxonMobil buys more crude oil than the produce themselves.

I worked for them for years and know that they do this for all sorts of technical reasons not because they have to.

It is, for the most part, a wash in terms of dollars and cents.