ALT-4 Are High Fuel Prices necessary – No
Here it is a few months later and prices fuel prices are plumeting. This deal with the exploration in the Dakota's might be truth or it may be a very clever hoax? But I stated that it was greed and nothing more. Apparently I was right. There is no difference in the amount of effort to acquire the crude oil and or the distance from the Middle East to America, that I am aware of anyway. The cost at the pump was GREED and nothing more! There are certain immutable facts in life, Oil Cartels are as crooked as a dog's hind leg, and not everyone marries for love! It is a simple case of mind over matter, they don't mind and you don't matter! Greed is as old as the human race and you are a victim of greed just as I am. Face the facts and write your Senators and ask that a resolution be passed to control the escalating prices of fuel Nation wide. States have anti-gouging laws, the American Nation does not! It is the food your childeren would eat, the toys you and they want. Your CHOICE! Either do something about it or sit quietly and watch them rob you blind!
Are high fuel prices necessary? Absolutely NOT! It is the greed factor and OPEC and Exxon are the leaders of the pack! How can a company post 80 billion dollars in profits in one quarter, (3 months), and remain magnanimous about! OPEC, the Organized Petroleum Extorting Countries sit in their Palaces and casually make glib remarks about the demise of the American way and the American economy. America comprises 5% of the worlds population and consumes 35% of all Petroleum Distillate Products worldwide. Gas prices at the pump are not the fault of the Gas Station owner either. It is the Oil Barons and the Cartels that are killing your wallet at the pump. Gas station owners get a paltry 15 cents a gallon in most cases. Transfer companies are controlled by Federal Regulations and can only charge so much per mile per ton or metric ton. Another thing is taxes, when gas was $1.89 per gallon the sales tax for state and federal were 49 cents each. That is half of the price you pay at the pump for every gallon! Why in God's name do you think the Elected Officials sit on their collective asses and do nothing about spiraling prices. They see a big fat pay raise in the extra monies collected in taxes!
In the mid-eighties oil Companies bought large amounts of stock in the Big 3 Auto Makers in the United States. This is to prevent them from manufacturing cars that would reduce the need for oil in order to keep volume sales under a controlled decline. 10 years ago Oil sold for $40.00 a Barrel. Each barrel contains 35 gallons. The current price is fluctuating at around $133.00 per barrel. In the same time span auto manufacturers have increased the average MPG by less than 30 to 40 percent across the board. The amount of cost per barrel to acquire crude has increased very slightly while the price per barrel has increased 300%. Taxes are relevant to retail sales numbers. The gas consumption tax is a mere 4% of the price you pay at the pump. And at $4.50 per gallon it is inconsequential! Very nearly nothing has changed in the price as far as acquiring the crude. Just the retail price has increased roughly 450%.
ISO-Octane is an additive that is added to gasoline to insure the smooth and concentric burn ratio of gasoline. In the sixties Sonoco Brand Gasoline had 120 and 140 Octane. High performance fuel such as Trick-Gas is 114 Octane. Flite Fuel is on average 104 Octane. The Octane levels we have today 89, 90, & 91 Octane are considerably lower than they have been in the past. Octane is a by-product of distilling gasoline and crude related products; and it was considered a waste product in the pre-world war 2 era. It is however a critical additive in modern gasoline, without it the hi-tech engines of today would pre-ignite and diesel themselves to death. Or the uneven heat ranges would melt the pistons and aluminum blocks. There is no other reason than greed for these high prices. OPEC has capped drilling and production quantities to create a higher demand on what is produced. Produce less and charge more! Do the math! Offshore rigs are already in place and have been for 2 decades. And still a company like Exxon posted 800 BILLION DOLLARS OF PROFITS IN ONE QUARTER!
The Housdse of Representatives has lodged a formal complaint and is considering suing OPEC in World Courts!
An example of how this might possibly work. In Phoenix Arizona the gas line that runs across the desert from LA to Phoenix ruptured. It took weeks to repair. Gas prices went from .89 Cents per gallon to $4.00 per gallon. The Executive Vice President of Exxon L.A. came on TV and stated flatly, "Why produce more when we can produce less and charge more per gallon. It is simply a matter of good business to get the most out of every gallon we produce." Greed is the motivator! Another example, The Executive Vice President of BP, British Petroleum, the single largest oil company in the world was on a show called Extreme Oil. He stated that there were approximately 1,000 deaths per day in the acquisition of crude oil alone. Processing, shipping, and distribution not included. The damage to the environment was costing billions per month in law suits and fines from agencies like the EPA. All of which are inherently passed on to the consumer.
Do you honestly think it would come out of their profits. Their sloppy and casual handling of chemicals and solvents has caused lethal pollution and kills hundreds of people in third world countries all the time, it just doesn't make the news. Chevron has the distinction of having the single largest loss in a lawsuit of this nature in the history of the human race. For what amounts to the murder of an entire village in South America they lost a staggering 22 Billion dollar lawsuit to the few survivors. Again that loss was passed on to you and I. With the increased ability to locate and the incredible strides in technology and the improvements in cars and their performance the price has increased some 500 percent in the last 7 1/2 years alone.
Now! Just a thought, to put this in prospective. What if, your local fast food chains created a fast food cartel. And as they sat at their collective meetings they arbitrarily raised the prices on all soft drinks and food stuffs by 10% per week for 7 1/2 years. A meal for a family of five by year 7 would be a bit outrageous. Example, $1.00 Whopper, after just 18 months at 10% percent per month, that $1.00 Hamburger without cheese mind you would cost nearly $6.50! After only 18 months at 10-% per month; not per week. A cost increase is subject to the expenses of materials and equipment and the labor required to complete the task. Arbitrary raises in costs are not subject to anything except the gleam in the eye of the Profiteering Monsters that see the end of their way of life on the horizon. Oil is a finite resource. That means that the amount that was here a million years ago is all there is ever going to be! It is not a replaceable commodity. So as the oil supplies world wide diminish the prices will rise accordingly.
This also means that as third world countries place higher demands on the diminishing supplies, suppliers and buyers become more hostile. Wars have been fought over less critical values. Agriculture world wide is hopelessly dependent on OIL and prices are rising so fast you can't keep up with them. The incredible thing that is absent in the mind of these Oil Producers is that if the American economy falls so does the rest of the worlds economy. August 29th, 1929 is a historical window into what can happen if the American Economy collapses. That economic collapse led to the single most devastating war in the history of the Human Race! World War II was an after shock effect of the great depression. Could OPEC be plotting the over throw of the free world by bringing on the collapse of the American Economy. A single raise in crude oil prices has repercussions felt around the world for years after the initial sticker shock wears off.
Greed and hatred of freedom are the enemy here. In America 10% of the population controls about 80% of the money in America. In the middle east 1% control 99% of the money there. That is a lot of money with very few dissenting opinions against doing the wrong thing with that vast fortune! Absolute power corrupts absolutely!
