With the price of gasoline going up & up a question has come to mind that I've not been able to get an answer for. First some background information. I spent over 20 years driving over 100 miles per day to get to work and back home. Because the cost of gasoline was a major expense I followed gas prices and events affecting gas prices closely.
I clearly remember in the late 80s & early 90s, numerous articles in the Traveler and other news media where oil company executives bemoaned the low price of gas and how the number of refineries was creating an oversupply, helping keep the price low. I also remember our refinery going through a multi-million dollar upgrade to make it a "state-of-the-art" facility, able to produce modern fuels efficiently.
Then suddenly many refineries all over the country were closed under the pretext of them being old, inefficient and unable to process modern fuel. We lost refineries in Wichita, Augusta and here in Ark City. Because our newly upgraded, modern fuel capable, efficient refinery was also shut down under that same pretext, it calls into question the validity of the owner's reasons for closing the refineries. Now, because there are so few refineries, the price of gas goes through the roof when any one of them experiences the smallest problem.
As recently as January of this year, when gas prices had fallen to almost reasonable levels, an oil company executive was quoted in the paper as saying he was thinking of closing another refinery in California to boost gas prices.
Admittedly it was a long time ago BUT when I was in school we were taught that artificial price fixing is against the law.
Why then is it not considered price fixing to close refineries with the express purpose of driving supply down to drive prices up? Opinions?
It helps to have political influence on your side. When you can get political influence in the house and senate or all of the commities , sooner or later you will get what you are after with the blessing of the government. It doesn't matter which route that you take, the banking industry, insurance industry, automotive industry, or the fifnicial district. Once these outside influences come to bear, the price of fuel and fuel related products will skyrocket, and all with mantra of a free market society, and all with governmental approval. BULL, the oil companies and the others mentioned above will do what it takes to make a buck one the backs of the consumer. When special intrests groups can get the government to prohibit exploration for more oil, based on "possible" effects on the environment. Then the oil companies raise prices, based on the fact they can not drill for more affordable domestic oil. While I do not advocate wholesale environmental abuse, I do not see the scraping of entire projets for the sake of a "snail darter", which only one human being has seen in the "wild", and I only have their word for it that is what it was, looked like a minnow to me. Better wake up and smell the roses. We will be regressing in our use of energy, because if we are going to have to depend on foreign sources for our enrgy, we will decimate our forrests for fire wood, and be back to riding horses and oxen for transportation. As distasteful as it sounds, our technology is outrunning our sources of energy, we need to use it prospect, explore and progress. It is some what a simple equation, conserve when and where possible, and expend when neccessay. Like all math, depends on how you use the equation. Just mu .02, a little fuel for the fire. (trying to conserve)
