Government Suspects Gas Gouging
June 16, 2000 8:15 am EST

Oil Company Profits Spike As Prices Rise

WASHINGTON (CBS News) - Gasoline prices are so high -- and oil company profit spikes so big -- the U.S. government is looking into possible gouging.

The White House stepped up pressure on the gasoline industry to explain why gas prices at the pump in many places in the Midwest have topped $2 a gallon.

Henry Hyde, the house judiciary committee chair, says he'll hold hearings to get to the bottom of it all, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Hyde says: "I wouldn't rule out profiteering, which is excessive profits. We were somewhat startled by the quarterly returns."

-- Reality Checker (reality@checker.con), June 16, 2000

Answers

I was watching the hearings on this on TV yesterday, always so much double talk, the way they are dragging it out you would think that some of the polititions were have holdingd that are profiting from the higher prices, they acted like it was a "surprise" that there could be price gouging. When the fact that prices were higher in different states which could NOT be the fault of OPEC was brought up, some representitives got pretty quiet and didn't like it when others demanded an explaination.

Let me make a prediction, there will be a sudden sell-off of a lot of the fuel stocks, then the prices will go down.

I just hope the gas prices stay high enough that overpriced SUV's get replaced by smaller, gas efficient, less poluting vehecles in the cities. Especially by those drivers who drive around bumps in the road and go out of their way to avoid getting a scratch or dirt on them.

Tell me, are those those little old people who can barely see over the steering wheel and are afraid to drive over 20 miles per hour, more of a danger in these big vehecle than they were in the little cars?

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), June 16, 2000.

Cherri:

I agree wholeheartedly. They SHOULD make them SUV owners take a special drivers test BEFORE they pull it off the lot.

We just got ran over by one a few weeks ago, she didnt even KNOW she hit our vehicle. Scuffed her 2000 Ford Expedition bumper and did 1,032.00 to our hood of grand am.

She got out of the vehicle (after hubby HAD to knock on her window, because she didnt stop...) and said, "I didnt feel nothin, looked at my back bumper and I have no damage". So I took her behind her SUV and SHOWED her the scuff mark. "oh" she said.

Sumer who detests SUV's and folks who cant drive um!!!

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), June 16, 2000.

The Bush family's favorite NWO special interest group, the multinational oil conglomerates, are doing their best to set the stage for little Shrubya to get elected. The current administration will be accused by right-wingers of not handling OPEC properly, and of course Shrubya, with a little help from his Daddy, will boast that he has all the proper solutions to put Americans at ease about gas prices. The Bush family has sold out the American people to do favors for their friends in high places, and they could care less how much it costs us.

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 16, 2000.

Hey Hawk Idiot:

That is really original.

But I doubt Hollywood can use it as SCIENCE FICTION or any FICTION.

Keep trying though, Jerkoff.

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), June 16, 2000.

LOL faggot boy ceeper! You are not worthy of sucking my cock, much less commenting on my posts. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 16, 2000.

  U.S. gas prices at a glance  
   
 Average self-service price per gallon, including taxes,
for regular unleaded gas from May 22 to June 12  
 Region 5/22 5/29 6/5 6/12  
 U.S. $1.52 $1.54 $1.56 $1.63  
 East $1.48 $1.49 $1.51 $1.54  
 Midwest $1.55 $1.60 $1.65 $1.80  
 Gulf Coast $1.45 $1.45 $1.47 $1.48  
 Rocky Mtn $1.50 $1.51 $1.52 $1.54  
 West $1.59 $1.59 $1.59 $1.59  
   
 
SOURCE: Energy Information Administration 

http://www.msnbc.com/news/421167.asp

-- Hawk is a Bird Brain (Hawk@BirdBrain.org), June 16, 2000.

UH- Hawk is a bird brain,

What are you trying to say? It seems you post points to rising gas prices and that was what Hawk was saying. If you are going to present evidence for you arguement that Hawk is an idiot you need more proof than that.

-- Swampthing (in@the.swamp), June 16, 2000.

There is no real surprise here for me. I'm sure the midwest has more profiteering maggots per square inch than any other region of the country. My grocery bills have practically doubled here, and by the way regular unleaded is $1.86/gal everywhere. Of course it might be worth it if it was actually interesting to live here...as it is, they should pay me.

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), June 16, 2000.

Hey ceeper, who gives a shit about all those numbers, everyone knows that gas is getting a lot more expensive and you said prices would go down. You must be brain dead you freaking imbecile loser!

Now for some supportive material to my interpretation of why this is happening...

(CEEPER - this is not meant for you - you're too stupid to understand it.)

U.S. gasoline producers blame Washington for high prices

June 16, 2000

Web posted at: 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 GMT)

WASHINGTON -- A senior manager for an industry trade group said Friday that federal regulations -- not U.S. petroleum producers -- are to blame for skyrocketing gasoline prices in Chicago and Milwaukee.

The finger-pointing comes after federal officials and lawmakers met in Washington on Thursday to determine why drivers in both cities are paying nearly 40 cents more per gallon than the rest of the nation.

"We're very confident that what is happening is a normal reaction to a market system," Edward Murphy, a senior manager for the American Petroleum Institute, told CNN. "At the base of that is problems with the regulations that the (Clinton) administration has imposed on the industry."

On June 1, gasoline companies were required by federal regulations to begin selling a cleaner-burning fuel that the industry says is more expensive to make.

President Clinton on Friday said he was "frustrated" and "quite concerned" about the exploding gasoline prices in the two cities on Lake Michigan.

"So we know that it would be more expensive for a little while till the transportation and the refinery problems were solved," Clinton said on NBC's "Today" show. "What we don't know is whether there was any price gouging."

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Friday demanded that the Clinton administration force the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase oil production as a way to lower gasoline and home heating oil prices.

OPEC's 11 nations compose the world's largest oil cartel, representing about 60 percent of all internationally traded petroleum, according to the group's Web site.

If OPEC refuses to increase output, the senators said, the White House should attempt to reduce oil prices on its own by releasing the nation's emergency oil reserves.

"If we do nothing and OPEC continues to constrict the supply of oil the average American will pay $1,000 more this year than they did last year out of their pockets," Sen. Charles Schumer said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

A White House spokesman told CNN that releasing the nation's oil reserves is not actively being considered.

Illinois governor: 'Prices went sky-high'

Illinois Gov. George Ryan has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend its new clean-gas regulations.

"The prices went sky-high on June 1," Ryan said, "and that's when the new regulations were changed by the EPA."

EPA Secretary Carol Browner -- who met Thursday with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and other lawmakers from Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana -- said a preliminary federal investigation had turned up "no reasonable answer" for the rising prices.

"The oil companies ... owe us an answer," Browner said.

Alleged price gouging

Browner is giving the Federal Trade Commission information gathered in recent days by field investigators in Chicago and Milwaukee. The FTC -- which Browner said may have more success because it has subpoena powers -- already had announced it would examine whether price-fixing or collusion in the oil industry was driving up prices.

"There has never, never been an instance found where any sort of anti-competitive behavior led to price increases in this industry," the American Petroleum Institute's Murphy told CNN.

But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the industry is gouging the public.

"It's an increase directly attributable to profit-taking by the oil companies," Durbin said.

Hastert said he hasn't yet reached that conclusion but expects to learn more next week during a private meeting with representatives from the Clinton administration and lawmakers from both parties, he said.

Browner said the average price for regular gas in Chicago and Milwaukee on June 12 was $2.04 per gallon; the average nationwide was $1.62. In cities where cleaner-burning fuel is required -- excluding Chicago and Milwaukee -- it was only $1.63.

Second federal investigation ordered

Also Thursday, the White House ordered the Transportation Department to look into whether supply problems are contributing to the problem, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said.

The oil industry said supply problems have been caused by: a patent dispute over the process to make the cleaner-burning gasoline, a major oil pipeline break three months ago, the start of the high-demand summer driving season, and higher costs for crude oil.

But Browner said tight gasoline supplies were not the reason behind the high gasoline prices. Total gasoline stocks in the Midwest are 650,000 barrels higher than last year.

The federal reformulated gasoline program requires that fuel sold in selected U.S. cities be blended with an oxygenate that makes it burn cleaner. Tighter pollution-reduction goals this year require ethanol -- which is used in Chicago and Milwaukee -- to be mixed with a more expensive gasoline, which the oil industry blames for the soaring prices.

*****

For the intelligent people... as you can see, this whole gas price situation is a political war, which is going to get more intense leading up to the election.

The Republicans are tight with the huge oil corporations and get millions from them in donations. Why? Because they know that if they can get Shrubya in office, he will throw these cleaner gas regulations out the window and let pollution go out of control just to maximize profits for the corporations. He'll let the whole country become just like Texas, the most polluted state in the nation.

The current administration favors cleaning up the environment, but the oil companies are intentionally gouging prices to convince the public that this is a bad idea. They want Shrubya in office because he'll let the corporations get away with murder.

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 16, 2000.

So is the world going to end on Election Day now, Most Wrong One?

Vindictive Regards,
Andy Boy

-- Andy Boy (andyboy666@hotmale.com), June 17, 2000.

Ah...politics. It never changes.

-- Plus ca change, plus c'est (la@meme.chose), June 17, 2000.

"So is the world going to end on Election Day now, Most Wrong One?"

Not exactly gay boy, but it shouldn't be long after the election. Shrubya is the antichrist that will rise to the highest position of power this year, and he will take this planet straight to hell in a handbasket. May you have the front seat on this rollercoaster ride to the meme of hell, from which you will never return. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@hi.again), June 17, 2000.

My boyfriend Andy Ray, that paragon of maleness, has sadly snapped during my absence. He can now be seen in the fullness of his Teal Fury, imitating....moi!

To my avian amigo, pay no mind to this little lover's spat. I shall whisper sweet somethings into Andy's shell-like ear anon, and this foolishness will end. *wink*

Virilescent Regards,
Andy Boy

-- Andy Boy (andyboy666@hotmale.com), June 17, 2000.