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>>I agree that there are lot of slime balls in the oil business, but isn't the assurance of fair market price of oil worth fighting for? After all oil is worlds blood line, isn't it?
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>Fair market price? Hah!
>Katrina proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that "fair market price" is a myth! Oil prices spiked HUGELY "because of Katrina" and the "normal market forces of supply and demand". Yea, right. NO ONE STOPPED BUYING GAS DURING THAT TIME. There was no way anyone could just stop cold-turkey, and they didn't. But there was NO SHORTAGE, and anyone who went to a pump got his fill. So "fair market price" simply doesn't exist anymore when it comes to oil/gas. It is wholly dependent on what profit the oil company wants to make today. And $25.4 billion PROFIT for the first 3 quarters of 2005 should tell you something!

You are not correct here Jim. Oil markets, like all commodities, are driven by future expectations, not so much by what is currently available. The hurricane hit in what I understand was a major oil refining area, hence this would/could affect possible future refining output.

Oil companies and OPEC do not dictate the price of oil. They dictate the supply of it. The price is set in free markets by traders (and others) betting on what they believe the future supply and demand conditions will be like.