Oil companies got us by the nuts!

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This is outrageous the way they are profiting off us! I don’t know if you read the business section of the paper but Exxon after taxes and everything made 10 BILLION in one financial quarter! Why doesn’t some one look into this?

They have, I think i read that they should be paying $96 a barrel instead of the $60 (i think so, its been a while since i heard that). Its outrageous

I still don’t know why people put up with it! Its unfair, like a political machine!

I have no idea, I also have no idea why the government isnt helping us (oh yea! Our presidants into oil) \*hugs my new hybred gas efficiant car\* It is absolutely ridiculous we need to find alternatives to gas cause we are getting screwed out the ass with this. im paying $3 a gallion (oh and you cant forget the 9/10 of a cent \*rolls eyes\*) and thats not even the most expensive!

They're just a company marketing a commodity. Theoretically, when prices go up, there's more money to be made. Do you think the profits would be better spent by the dirty liberals?The problem is that we have a president and vice president who come from the oil industry, and who have no vision. There's been no serious effort to develop alternative sources of energy. Just months ago Bush was saying that Americans would not and should not be deprived of their vehicles. It's only in the past couple of months that Bush suggested that people drive less. The Congress has been no better.Drilling for oil in Alaska's wilderness will add a small amount to the supply, ten years from now, if it's sucessful. That's the best that Bush and Chaney have to offer, other than give big subsidies to new nuclear power plant construction. Those guys need to be fired.Americans want to drive gas guzzling vehicles as much as they want? The U.S. government doesn't want to invest in basic research for alternative energy? America doesn't want to take mass transit seriously? U.S. companies aren't interested in researching and marketing alternative energy? The U.S. government is not interested in giving major tax breaks for people who use alternative energy sources?Fine, then the U.S. is screwed. Now China has become a big competitor for oil. As if this couldn't all be predicted. Let's thank our leaders.

lets face it, there are people on both sides of the spectrum who make money from oil.

lets face it, there are people on both sides of the spectrum who make money from oil. Go see to which political campaigns the oil companies donated, then tell me how evenly distrubuted you think everything is. People like Tom DeLay are owned by their biggest contributors.The problem is that we've never before had anyone from any part of the political spectrum who've come from the oil industry, and who've put oil industry executives and lobbyists into responsible governement leadership positions. Alternative sources of energy? Clean air? Clean water? Forget about it.A big part of the problem is the specific leadership that's in place in the U.S. (Bush, Cheney, and their political appointees). It's as if they're working mainly for the oil industry's interestes. Their lack of vision and their poor choices will dog this country for years to come.Are you familiar with the energy bill that the Republican Congress recently delivered to the Republican president? Bush signed "The Energy Policy Act of 2005" in August. It's a travesty. The idea of true leadership is dead, at least for now.

One of the quotes from bush was "It'd be a lot easier if this was a dictatorship. So long as i was the dictator"

can we just keep this the common person againts the oil companies?

Sorry, its that agression comming out in me again. Anyways. I wonder how much the average person spends on gas each month

I'm sure a lot! Im sure you can find it on the internet.

> can we just keep this the common person againts the oil companies?

The Wall Street Republican (i.e., libertarian) inside of me says...

I don't see oil companies as the enemy. I just see them fulfilling their obligation to their sharholders. Fulfilling thier fiduciary responsibility (i.e., doing what they gotta do to make the most money) is a legal requirement. A public corporation is not a charity.

you act like republicans are the only people who like money.

oil = non renewable source of energy demand is greater than production so prices will go upcompanies should always be making record profits due to inflation.if you don't like the price you pay, ride a push bike or accept the oil is not going to be around forever, and its only going to get more expensive at an exponetial rate...

you act like republicans are the only people who like money.Huh?

We wont hit the peak till 2010, it isnt 2010 yet so prices should skyrocket like this until then.

How much do you guys pay for Petrol?The UK peaked a few months ago at £1 per LITRE!Thats about $1.77That would be $6.71 per Gallon of Petrol!!Europe isnt a place for gas guzzling cars for the sake of gas guzzling, even the far east is bucking the trend.You can get cars which will do 40/50/60 MPG so its hardly harsh on the wallet, and in Europe especially Diesel cars have become very popular, it is no longer a dirty unrefined alternative, for 'Real World' driving Diesel is easily better than Petrol as it give more mid range power.The Seat Ibiza TDI 1.9 has as much Torque as a porsche 911 and its only 150BPH so on the move its fast. The Volkswagen/Audi group have done great things diesel and many people consider BMW's x35d cars to be better than their petrol alternatives! Ultimately the oil companies are there to make money they are running a business so i would expect them to continue going up, over here you can still expect to pay 93p a litre for petrol. It sux. Thats life.Prehaps we should get off the road and onto our bikes, its successfull in places like Amsterdam/Holland, when it comes to decent transport systems mainland Europe has got it sussed. Im a petrolhead but even i'll admit the car as we know it is on its way out, it'll be interesting to see what the next 20 years bring as oil prices climb and supplies dwindle how we will cope...

I think the US really needs to expand on public transportation.Unfortunately, US cities are not set up like most European cities, so riding a bike or walking to a certain destination aren't really possible a lot of the time. On the other hand, good luck getting people in the US to get out of the "I need to drive my car there" mindset, as well.

I dont see how having to buy oil from middle eastern countrys is good for them. Wouldnt this ,make the middle eastern countrys economy higher and lessen the buying countrys? You would have thought with all the UN's environmentaly friendly outlook regardless of cost that they would be conducting research, or maybe they are and I dont know.

That is correct. OPEC has to walk a careful line when they set oil prices, to the extent that they can successfully do so. If they raise prices too high, they'll damage the economies of their customers, which means less money for them. But if they price oil too low, they won't maximize their profits either.

But if oil is in short supply, if the oil producers price oil too low, then they won't be able to meet demand. Also, their fields will be depleted sooner. It's a complcated thing.

The problem for most of the Middle Eastern oil producers is that they have squandered most of the money that they've taken in all these years. You'd think they'd have some kind of amazing infrastructure (buildings, energy production, roads, computer networks, etc.), but they don't. If the oil stopped flowing tomorrow, Saudi Arabia would turn back into a pile of sand. Compare them to Singapore, Taiwan, or South Korea. Those guys have no oil, but their economies dwarf those of the Middle Eastern oil producers.