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June 07, 2007
Remove Roadblocks to Oil Production Here In the USA
Please stay off of the gas
Washington Times ...for complete article
Rolling into the busy summer driving season, Congress just can't seem to resist the urge to scapegoat oil companies. Just before Memorial Day weekend, Congress held another in what has become a seemingly interminable number of hearings into "big oil's" role in high gasoline prices and threatening to punish the industry for making a profit.
World oil prices are not set by big oil companies in the U.S., but rather by supply and demand conditions in the market, as often manipulated by state-run oil companies -- who own most of world's oil -- in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia.
Even in the face of congressional hostility and forced nationalization of foreign owned oil and gas deposits, the industry has done its best to increase oil reserves -- tripling the oil and gas wells operating in the U.S. since 2000.
By contrast, rather than helping consumers, Congress' actions have reduced available gasoline and made us depend more on foreign oil.
For instance, in the 1980s Congress instituted a "Windfall Profits Tax" (WPT) on the oil industry. The results were predictable to any student taking high school economics but evidently not to Capitol Hill --
A 1990 Congressional Research Service report found that between 1980 and 1987 "The WPT reduced domestic oil production between 3 and 6 percent and increased oil imports between 8 and 16 percent."
Congressional grandstanding, berating oil companies while the cameras roll and threatening to break them up if they don't do something to reduce prices, will do nothing to help drivers. By contrast, Congress could take concrete steps to help consumers at the pump, perhaps not by tomorrow, but in the future.
Removing roadblocks to new oil production, reducing restraints on refining capacity, and improving the investment climate by forgoing punitive, unproductive taxes on oil company profits would be a legacy for which Americans now and in the future could honor and thank Congress.
Wild Thing's comment.........
So let's see, I guess we will just go back to the Carter plan. Gas rationing, long lines, and a terrible way of life. Yea, that's a good idea.
Try this; build refineries, explore our own oil reserves, and decrease the amount of state and federal taxes on gas.
The demand is out there, the supply has been bottle necked by the environmentalist communists that want to break our economy, to control our lives. They will succeed if we don't stop this crap.
Posted by Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 12:47 AM
Comments
No kidding.
We have plenty here and we aren't going to destroy anything.
You somehow think that those blocking this really want us relying on foreign countries to get us our oil and if we can't, well then it's our own damn fault and we deserve to be punished with high gas prices and taxes.
If they truly cared about Americans, they would stop blocking this.
Posted by: Lynn at June 7, 2007 05:16 AM
Last refinery built was in 1976 (Yuma AZ.) and now they say the seas are too rough and prices will go up? And then a hurricane or terrorism will increase our prices? Pains in the GAS bigtime. Nuke the whales and shoot the caribou - drill baby drill! - Liquid Black Goldfinger 2007
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at June 7, 2007 06:05 AM
This is the whole problem, we haven'e built a refinery since the 70's, we can't drill for new sources, so we have reached critical mass, where we are at a point where demand has exceeded supply. The democrats blame the repub. and the repub haven't got the guts to go after them and drill for more oil, they have stymied our oil growth at every turn.
People want to blame the oil companies and they probably are responsible for some of it but it is the environmental weenies, who have got us in this mess in the first place.
Now with this bogus global warming Scare, this just adds fuel to their fire and the American People just suck it in. They have snuck this one in on us, bit by bit until ALGORE is running around saying the sky is falling and people are jumping on his bandwagon.
If the immigration had been done like global warming it would have been put upon us slowly until finally they would win.
Somebody screwed up when comtemplating the Immigration bill. Hopefully Americans will wake up and see this too is a sham.
Posted by: Mark at June 7, 2007 10:19 AM
Refineries need to be built across the country, fast. If terrorists take out a couple of refineries America grinds to a halt. Katrina should have shown how fragile our refinery capacity is and how ridiculous it is to have the refineries grouped together.
Also, adding millions of immigrants per year increases our demand for fuel. Gas prices, shortages and environmentalism should be arguments against unregulated immigration.
Posted by: TomR at June 7, 2007 12:30 PM
Tom thanks for the headsup. I read it on Rush and figured, he was right. But today As you pointed out it was Cornyn. My bad.
I did a double take when I read that because Kyl is as you say backing the Amnesty bill all the way.
Posted by: Mark at June 7, 2007 03:58 PM
Oil is trading today at 66.93.Cost to produce is
15-20 per barrel..OPEC sets this price. Then you
have I belive 5 commodities brokerage houses who set the price from there on up.Cheveron will tell
you they invest their profit in exploration,some
of it they do.Then the say they pay a tremendous
tax,sorry the tax is set in the price you pay
at the pump.then we have zone pricing or the
better the neighbor hood the higher the price.
Just like freeway prices are 15-20% higher than
in town...Say you want an ARCO AM/PM Mini mart
you pay wholesale for your gas plus 15% of the stores gross...works for them...You have 4 or 5 major players as oil companys go,no good, you need
15-20 the old compitition factor....I have a lot
more but why bother the oil companys are like the
drug companys the stick they hand you?that ain't
fudge on your end
Posted by: Tincan Sailor at June 7, 2007 07:12 PM
Lynn, so true. The enviro's don't give a hoot about America and those letting them to stop getting oil here are so weak. I could stand up to them easily, just say NO way.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 11:39 PM
Darth, heh heh..."Liquid Black Goldfinger 2007"...love it!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 11:40 PM
Mark that is exactly right, if the Repub's were stronger we would be drilling like crazy for oil. Gosh I wish we had real men in power instead of wimps.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 11:42 PM
Tom your right, it increases our demand for fuel, water ( especially in areas of drought and lot of the illegals are in those areas too) so many things.Thanks Tom for pointing that out, we forget about the things that increase because of the illegals.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 11:45 PM
Tincan Sailor, thank you for the information.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 7, 2007 11:47 PM
