Gene wrote:
On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:05:44 -0400, Wayne B
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:39:41 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:25:30 -0400, Wayne B
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:41:35 -0400, Gene
wrote:

Holding a big inventory of oil in your tank farm is not without risk
and it takes massive investments in time and money to build the
infrastructure. Not surprisingly, the people who make those
investments expect to earn a profit once in a while.
"A profit once in a while.....?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/business/01oil.html
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-04...ution-while-am
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/29/news...xxon/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...anies/profits/

The oil companies and speculators are almost single-handedly
preventing an economic recovery.... and they are being paid handsomely
to do so..... and you are DEFENDING that?

Incredible.....
It's a very cyclical business and no one feels sorry for Exxon when
they have stagnant growth, or even worse, when they fail to discover
enough new oil to replace what they sold. Unfortunately that is what
is happening. It is probably reasonable to assume that as their
exploration and acquisition costs go up, and as their reserves go
down, they will want a higher price for the product.

In the interest of full disclosure, I own stock in both Exxon and
Chevron-Texaco. Their annual reports make interesting reading and
the future for energy prices is not good.
Somehow, you are missing the reality that when Exxon loses money, the
stockholders are ****ed..... when Exxon continues to make record
profits in an otherwise miserable economy, they are sticking it to all
of the users of gasoline.... one way or the other, the entire
American population.... and to the entire American economy....
Let's not forget that they are entitled to make a profit no matter how
miserable the economy might be. Their costs are going up, way up.
Our cost will go up also. The dollar continues to depreciate.
That's a result of our fiscal policies and upside down balance of
payments. A strong dollar would result in cheaper oil, and that is
what we've been used to in the past.

Corporations are not, like any individual, entitled to commit treason
with impunity.... no matter how important profit is, to some self
centered investors...


How unAmerican of you, Gene! :)
Don't you believe in corporations über alles?

I believe we need to "restructure" certain aspects of our society, and
part of that restructuring should be how we handle leases to explore and
drill for oil and natural gas.

There's nothing sacred about for-profit corporations. That model isn't
working anymore for us. It's milking the middle class dry and
accelerating the transfer of wealth to the very rich.

There are any number of oil-producing countries in which ownership of
that asset is retained by the state, and the revenues used to finance
the government. The problem here is that Americans have been brainwashed
into thinking the price-fixing, for-profit private sector that dominates
the energy business is the only way to do that sort of business.