The Immaculate Misconception

Americans are stupid. American apathy has reached its apex. Those observations may be considered harsh by some. However, what other reasons can there be for no public outcry over what the oil companies are doing to the average consumer. Spokespersons for the oil industry lie, this is not a surprise. What is a surprise is when spokespeople tell the truth and it’s more difficult to fathom than the lies are.
Remember last summer when the American public was told by some oil industry spokesperson that gas prices were based on what price was paid for crude oil three months previous? And then gas prices continued to fluctuate daily, shooting that theory in the ass.
Over the past twelve months gas prices have ranged between approximately $4.50 a gallon to a low of $1.49 a gallon here in South Florida. Last summer, crude oil costs were as high as $147.27 per barrel. Several months ago the bottom fell out of the oil futures market. The cost per barrel reflected that when it reached a low of $32.41. With that being said, it stands to reason that if $147.27 per barrel of crude equated to $4.50 at the pump, then the price for gas should have been around $1.00 a gallon based on $32.41 for crude. If my math is correct, $147.27 is about four and half times $32.41. Yet gas never even got close to $1.00 per gallon. Greedy fuckers, but that part you knew. Except now a mouthpiece for the oil industry says as much when questioned. After all the lies, and all the bullshit Americans have been fed for the last year, the greedy fuckers are finally fessing up.
We’ve had to listen to gas prices remaining high due to hurricane damage to oil drilling facilities. We got the “volatile Mid-East situation” excuse for soaring gas prices. We got the supply wasn’t keeping up with the demand bullshit. So what did Americans do? They bought hybrid cars at inflated prices. They drove less, except for those who have enough income that they don’t care how high gas prices are.
Politicians tell us the situation in the Middle East (oil producing nations) is mellowing considerably. Oil companies jacked gas prices up while maintenance was done to damaged rigs and refineries. The supply side is rosy since oil reserves are at their highest levels ever. That means that foreign oil is going to cost more since they have product that isn’t selling as fast as it should to sustain whatever country’s economy. Now, nobody’s buying any new cars, much less hybrids, so why the rising gas prices? Believe or not, there is a legitimate reason, a shitty one, but legitimate nonetheless.
The oil industry in this country has not reinvested their mind-boggling profits back into their own infrastructure since 1976. Sure, you can point to the environmental issues that would come from erecting new refineries or expanding the capacities of old ones. Still, that type of action would not only employ thousands of folks, but also keep gas prices at “reasonable” levels. Today’s reasonable is yesterday’s exorbitant. There is another reason, it’s the one many Americans have suspected all along but big oil has never owned up to.
CBS news called “Drill baby, drill,” the battle hymn of last summer’s Republican National Convention. However, oil companies have cut back on drilling, even though they’ve claimed that there are several large untapped oil fields off-shore in the Gulf of Mexico, in Canada, and Alaska. Chief economist with the American Petroleum Institute John Felmi says drilling has stopped on existing leases “because there’s probably no oil there,” even though there is substantial evidence to the contrary. Christ! Exxon-Mobil has an entire ad campaign running that centers on new sources of fossil fuel. Mr. Felmi offered up the real reason to the halt in drilling, this would be the same reason gas prices remain high, “We had a serious decline in terms of prices (?) and in terms of earnings in the 4th quarter last year.” The drilling stopped as a hedge against a downturn in profits in case there’s another crisis like last summer caused by lack of unearthing more crude? Does this mean big oil is causing its own crisis and shareholders are profiting by it?
There it is folks, for the first time in print the truth from an oil industry representative. What Mr. Fermi is saying for those of you who really are idiots, is that the oil industry can’t invest any monies because oil companies have to keep paying stockholders huge dividends. Wow! I feel so much better now that is out in the open. Mr. Fermi might as well have appeared on television in a festive party hat giving the viewing audience the finger while laughing maniacally. A good thing can come out of this revelation. From now on maybe we’ll get less bullshit. Florida Power and Light have taken this tact.
Last year a disgruntled employee intentionally threw a wrong switch that caused massive power outages all over the state, and an estimated $8 million in damages. Instead of FP&L holding itself accountable for the actions of its employees, FP&L decided that raising customer rates to cover the costs of this little happenstance was the way to go. But at least they were up front about it, and the Florida legislature agreed. See, there’s no need to hide behind some contrived fabrication any longer.
Oil industry spokespersons can now just say “gas prices will remain inflated because” according to Exxon-Mobil spokesman Ken Cohen “two and a half million people own stock in the company,” They have grown accustom to a consistently high return (16% or so) on their investment. The 2.5 million number includes people who own shares in mutual funds that include Exxon-Mobil in the portfolio. I am not going to figure out what percentage of the global population 2.5 million represents, but it’s really small. The rest of us are getting bent over without the courtesy of a dinner date.
Exxon-Mobil’s earnings last year were $45,000,000,000-the largest corporate profit ever. Remember that includes that down 4th quarter. A major portion of the profits, so we’re told, comes from selling domestic crude overseas where it fetches a higher price than Exxon-Mobil pays for foreign oil. Well hell that makes sense! Politicians cry “Lets stop our dependence on foreign oil,” oh that’s right we can’t because we’re selling off what we have here at home in the name of profit. Hey Exxon-Mobil shareholders, why don’t you lighten up a bit and do the right thing? The problem is when big oil does the right thing they still somehow fuck it up.
This past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a piece on the pollution to the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin and the Amazon River’s tributaries, and the resultant lawsuit. This environmental catastrophe was caused primarily by the Texaco oil company, which is now owned by Chevron. Environmental experts estimate that it will cost about $8 billion dollars to clean up the mess left behind by an American oil company over twenty years ago.
Chevron used as their spokeswoman Silvia Garrigo, Chevron’s manager of global issues and policy, to address this topic with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, big mistake. Ms. Garrigo came off as aloof, indignant, sanctimonious, and completely out of touch with the real world as well as the viewers. The corporate heads are so out of the loop as to how America thinks that they felt Ms. Garrigo would be their best choice to represent Chevron on national television. Not so. She and Chevron could be as right as rain in their position concerning the lawsuit and it wouldn’t have mattered a lick due to her pomposity.
Ms. Garrigo didn’t seem to feel Chevron should be held accountable for old Texaco liabilities. Though I am sure what had transpired down in Ecuador many years ago was disclosed prior to merger. Why not just suck it up, clean it up, and call a press conference to announce how environmentally conscientious Chevron is. That way they’d look like heroes. Sure it would have cost a lot and cut into profits, but you can’t put a price on the amount of global good will generated by the act.
No, Chevron came to the conclusion that an abrasive bitch protecting the company interests was the best way to go. The least the ivory tower assholes could have done was get someone who exuded some appeal.
Over the last couple of days gas prices have risen nearly twenty cents per gallon locally. Crude oil prices are $53.00 per barrel. Based on my earlier rough calculations, the price of a gallon of gas should be around $1.75 a gallon. It’s not. It’s $2.19 a gallon. I can’t believe how stupid I am when it comes to math. Maybe one day I’ll do something about it, just not right now. I don’t care about math that much.