Re: Oil reserves
akjimny - 3/7/2011 11:44 AM ... The oil companies charge what they do because they can, and we can't do anything about it...
That's just not true. There is a lot of competition in the gasoline production industry. Of course, each company controls it's own prices ... what business doesn't?
The problem we have is with
supply, not demand. Why don't we elect someone that will change the supply side of the equation? That would be two things: 1. Increase refining capacity, 2. Drilling for oil.
We have woefully inadequate refining capacity. That means refining oil into gasoline. We need the government out of the way of the refiners.
The last time we had this spike in world oil prices, President Bush made the commitment and announcement that we would increase our drilling. There was an immediate drop in the world oil price. Immediate.
Why doesn't our current so-called President do this? Instead he's considering dumping our strategic reserves onto the market. We have 30 days of reserves. That's not going to do anything. We already experienced that dumping operation during Katrina. The price dropped about $5 per barrel.
And here's another brilliant plan. Drill for more oil in the USA, but don't require that the new oil we drill for be sold here in the USA. Guess where it will go. It will go to the highest bidder on the market. If we don't require our own oil be sold and consumed here, then nothing will change for us. Nothing.