I can't believe you are still here trying to peddle supply/demand. I certainly don't agree with any restrictions or stupid excise taxes or any of the democratic junk that has been proposed. All I am in favor of is simple anti-trust investigations just like what took place with Microsoft and the multitudes of other industries in the past that engaged in price fixing.
I have spoon fed all of this information to you for you to simply go and try to dispute so that you could read and understand it all for yourselves. Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, Dutch Shell, all have admitted to price fixing in the United States. Not openly admitted it but have admitted it in one form or the other.
Back a few years ago when gas was so cheap and OPEC decided to lessen output to raise the price per barrel, US refineries did the same thing. They lessened output BUT, and most importantly HELD shipments to artificially affect the supply at the retail level. This was brought out through a Congressional Investigation but nothing was ever done about it. To this day since, they have become much more aggressive with their pricing schemes and the BS about supply and our lack of additional refineries is just that, BS. We currently have more than enough production ability even operating at less than 100%.
The other side of this is the energy futures market and why it's been so great in the past 3 or 4 years. This manipulation of the supply by the oil companies keeps futures trading high and keeps margins high. Not a conspiracy but a side result of who do you think is trading in the futures?
If you can't get it from here, there's nothing much else I can say. If all you can do is keep saying it's supply and demand and copy what the oil companies' rhetoric is without offering any arguments against the points brought up or any other useful information, why continue making a fool of yourself. If you think I am wrong or inaccurate, fine. Look it up and then wait and see.
But first explain why retail fuel prices jumped 150% in less than 4 years when demand did not and supply was not effected over that time. And explain why in the past week retail gas prices fell 20% to levels not seen since April of this year, but alas diesel fuel has not.
When you supply/demand scholars can explain the immediate fluctuations and the few above points, you might then have a handle on why the US Congress, economists, business owners and multitudes of others are questioning why the retail fuel market is such that it is.
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10-30-2005, 08:17 PM
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