>Tom,
I picked up the following story a few days ago - describes how BP Amoco was accused of selling Alaska crude to Asia for less than market price to bump up the price of oil in the West Coast.
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405723865What I've heard recently is that OPEC now accounts for 40% of world production. I don't believe that new exploration is going to put much of a dent in that, and even if it did, given the way oil companies behave, there's seems to be very little relation between supply of oil from a domestic source and the price passed on to the consumer (as you said). Their behaviour also undermines the idea that this new digging is needed to guarantee a solid supply domestic supply for the future. I don't object to commercial exploration in general, but ripping up a valuable ecosystem and painting it as something that's in the national interest or needed to free us from the oppression of OPEC I find false and troublesome.
Rod;
Thank you for the input - I had heard a similar story. Well, that is O.K., you see, according to the local news media, nearly everyone in the Bay Area is a multi millionaire due to the .COM crap. The cost of housing is the highest in the nation, cost of electricity has gone up 900 % to the suppliers (above the amount paid one year ago), and all oil-derived products (including natural gas, which increased 60% in price to consumers as of December) have gone up. We have so much money we do not care about what you charge us for anything. If you ask for $1000, we will give you $5000, as we are funded by venture capitalists and do not have a business plan.
Sorry to sound pissed off – I am! Greed is the name of the game – “I want it all and I want it now”. Where and what did that get Freddie Mercury and Queen?
I work for Toyota/General Motors and I saw one of those new Toyota electric/gas cars last Sunday at our Church parking lot. There may be hope for the world - if only more people would realize SUV's are not the answer to heaven.
Tom
