By Tina Grazier
For the record, the FTC has an entire crew that pores over weekly average gas prices in hundreds of cities, looking for evidence of gouging–to no avail. Perhaps this is because no oil company controls enough of the market to exercise enough power to raise prices. – WSJ
Jack’s “price gouging part deux” article sent me scampering to see what I might find on the web. The very first article I read yielded sweet fruit as illustrated in the above quote. However, there is so much more. Back in 2006 during the last oil price spike Republicans were in a panic, according to Denny Pelosi in his Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal piece from 2006:
Gas prices rise, and Republicans panic, by Denny Pelosi
House Speaker Denny Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist fired off a letter to President Bush yesterday demanding the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department investigate “price fixing” and “gouging.” Senator Arlen Specter wants to go further and impose stricter “antitrust” laws for oil companies, as well as a “windfall profits” tax. Mr. Hastert also delighted the class warriors in the press corps by lambasting recently retired Exxon CEO Lee Raymond’s pay “unconscionable.” ** There’s been unconscionable behavior all right, most of it on Capitol Hill. A decent portion of the latest run-up in gas prices–and the entire cause of recent spot shortages–is the direct result of the energy bill Congress passed last summer. That self-serving legislation handed Congress’s friends in the ethanol lobby a mandate that forces drivers to use 7.5 billion gallons annually of that oxygenate by 2012.>>
That little piece of legislation put more than a little pressure on oil company plans for the future. It also jerked oil speculators by the neck when their plans to yield a decent investment return moving forward had to shift. But this legislative debacle isnt all of the story: >
At the same time, Congress refused to provide liability protection to the makers of MTBE, a rival oxygenate getting hit with lawsuits. So MTBE makers are leaving the market in a rush, while overstretched ethanol producers (despite their promises) are in no way equipped to compensate for the loss of MTBE in the fuel supply. Ethanol is also difficult to ship and store outside of the Midwest, which is causing supply headaches and spot gas shortages along the East Coast and Texas. ** As recently as last year, ethanol was selling for $1.45 a gallon. By December it had reached $2 and is now going for $2.77. So refiners are now having to buy both oil and ethanol at sky-high prices. In short, the only market manipulation has been by politicians. (emphasis mine)
And still there is more
Beyond the ethanol fiasco, the oil markets are once again providing a tutorial in supply and demand in a global commodity market. Strong economic growth from the U.S. to China is driving up demand, even as political uncertainty in oil-producing countries such as Venezuela and Iran is leading to supply worries and some speculation. The Federal Reserve has also played a role by flooding the market with dollar liquidity that has produced higher prices across all commodity markets. ** Congress could help a little in the short term if it asked the Bush Administration to end the 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol. ** Naturally, however, the domestic ethanol industry is threatening retribution against any Member who suggests such a thing; so much for industry gratitude. ** The GOP might also refocus its attention on legislation the House passed last year to reduce the number of “boutique fuels” to six from 17. These special gasoline blends are required in different parts of the country in the name of reducing pollution. Their primary effect, however, is to raise gas prices and make it difficult to move gas around the country during shortfalls. The Environmental Protection Agency could also ease environmental rules for those parts of the country suffering shortages. ** Meanwhile, we’re also hearing more about the country’s reliance on “foreign oil.” But if Congress wants to ease that dependence, it will have to open more of the U.S. up to oil and gas exploration. Had the Senate opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration when the Bush Administration requested it in 2001, some of this oil might now be joining American supplies. The same goes for natural gas drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf. Yet the very Democrats who deplore foreign supplies and shout about high prices vote again and again to block domestic oil exploration.
Bottom line: BIG GOVERNMENT is the biggest obstacle of all and both parties have played a role in creating the mess through the years. Ironically (or perhaps criminally) government is the biggest winner in this entangled over bloated bureaucratic mess:
In the past 25 years oil companies paid $2.2 trillion in federal and state taxes- more than three times their profits. They paid even more in taxes if you include property tax, state sales tax, severance taxes, and onshore royalty payments. (sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Department of Energy) Hat tip: The Limbaugh Letter!! >