Bush + Big Oil = $3/ gallon gas prices

[Jung Rhee]

Both the demand and supply of oil is highly inelastic. To increase revenue, one just needs to raise the oil prices. Are the Big oil and the Bush administration in bed together to jack up the gas prices to line their pockets??? Revenue minus cost = profits. How much do the oil companies make in 2004?

The Bush administration has blamed squarely on China and India for the high gas prices but the top six biggest oil companies had combined 2004 revenues of $1 trillion or $1000 billion with 12 zero which also is roughly the size of the entire Canadian economy.

[Yeahman]

And this has what to do with Bush?
I'd be very interested in a demonstration of how a dollar goes from my pocket to Bush's. How would it be different for a different president?
From the looks of it, it doesn't look like prices rose faster than the price of crude oil. So do you have any evidence that margins have been improving under Bush?

[thaite]

Dammit, why the hell are we in iraq if we ain't gonna be taking their oil?

[Jung Rhee]

Ye110man,

Bush and his family have been known to have close business relationship with the big oil, the energy companies and the arabs, including the Bin Laden family. My point in the original post was the higher the gas price, the higher the profit for the big oil companies. The local gas price here right now is around $2.15. They are just talking about the possiblity of gas price increase to $3 this summer in the news. I am not surprised if Bush is in bed with these big oil companies to jack up the gas prices to increase profit. The incentive is evidently there.

[haplesshobo]

Jung,

If you're going to make the assertion that the supply of oil is inelastic, then that's the reason why oil prices have gone up. This is classic case of supply and demand, with demand increasing due to China and India. Even if the increased demand wasn't that much, all you'd really need is a tight supply.

[Jung Rhee]

haplesshobo,
yes you are right, but on top of that, one can maximize revenue by simply increase the price of oil.

[Yeahman]

Ye110man,

Bush and his family have been known to have close business relationship with the big oil, the energy companies and the arabs, including the Bin Laden family. My point in the original post was the higher the gas price, the higher the profit for the big oil companies. The local gas price here right now is around $2.15. They are just talking about the possiblity of gas price increase to $3 this summer in the news. I am not surprised if Bush is in bed with these big oil companies to jack up the gas prices to increase profit. The incentive is evidently there.
So please tell how Bush benefits. And again, can you demonstrate that profit margins are higher today than before Bush?

[Jung Rhee]

So please tell how Bush benefits. And again, can you demonstrate that profit margins are higher today than before Bush?

Bush and the GOP benefited by receiving donations from the big oil and the energy companies. I didn't study the profit margin of the top 6 oil companies in 2004 but I am sure they weren't bad at all. They reaped about $1000 billion in revenue last year. Didn't Exxon Mobile become the biggest company in the world? Good news for consumer huh?

[damashii]

And this has what to do with Bush?
I'd be very interested in a demonstration of how a dollar goes from my pocket to Bush's. How would it be different for a different president?
From the looks of it, it doesn't look like prices rose faster than the price of crude oil. So do you have any evidence that margins have been improving under Bush?


Evidence...shaa... uh.. uh... you see I have capital.... I earned capital.... and I'm gonna spend it....uh.. you see democracy... uh liberty and freedom... you see we are spreading freedom....

I dont think it has anything to do with Bush directly, but Im sure his buddies are pretty happy

[Yeahman]

Bush and the GOP benefited by receiving donations from the big oil and the energy companies.
And how would have it been different under a different president? Would Gore have imposed price ceilings?

[onnihs]

gore wouldn't have invaded iraq. opec wouldn't have gotten scared. gas prices wouldn't have surged.

[golden_buns]

you guys are also missing the fact that the OPEC isn't increasing supply on purpose

[Jung Rhee]

And how would have it been different under a different president? Would Gore have imposed price ceilings?


Bush had been linked to Harken, Reliant Energy, Enron, Exxon Mobile and so on. Gore did own stocks of Occidental petroleums but was not known to be in bed with the big oil and energy companies. Since demand is highly inelastic, a price ceiling would not work at all; On the other hand, an artificial increase in price will reduce the inelastic demand just a little but maximize the revenue.

you guys are also missing the fact that the OPEC isn't increasing supply on purpose

Golden Bun,

You are correct to a certain extent :smile: but rising gas prices have much less to do with OPEC or Saudi princes nowadays than good ol' American princes, uhmm, I mean, big oil and energy corporate executives and their ability to manipulate the market. See the Memory Hole's explanation at http://www.thememoryhole.org/corp/gas-prices.htm

[golden_buns]

You are correct to a certain extent :smile: but rising gas prices have much less to do with OPEC or Saudi princes nowadays than good ol' American princes, uhmm, I mean, big oil and energy corporate executives and their ability to manipulate the market. See the Memory Hole's explanation at http://www.thememoryhole.org/corp/gas-prices.htm
I wasn't saying is THE factor, it's just one of the many variables you should take in account

[haplesshobo]

Well, there are several problems with this argument.

First of all, there's nothing wrong that some companies adopted a just in time inventory. Toyota does this, and other companies have copied this. Ideally, it cuts down inventory costs. However, the problem with this is that prices would spike up if there were any unexpected disruptions in supply.

And, a succesful invasion and democratization of Iraq would have lead to lower oil prices. The supply of oil in the market would have surged upwards as we have placed sanctions that limited the oil that Iraq could supply. If Bush was doing all this to help his buddies in the energy business, he would have never invaded Iraq.

Some of the higher prices in oil have been caused by speculators, and not necessairly from oil companies.

If oil companies are able to succesfully manipulate the market like this, then why were oil prices so low in the 90s?

And, the reason prices are higher in CA is because CA chooses to use a higher standard gasoline than the rest of the nation, so there is limited supply and therefore tighter supply which is especially susceptible to any disruptions.

[Yeahman]

Bush had been linked to Harken, Reliant Energy, Enron, Exxon Mobile and so on. Gore did own stocks of Occidental petroleums but was not known to be in bed with the big oil and energy companies. Since demand is highly inelastic, a price ceiling would not work at all; On the other hand, an artificial increase in price will reduce the inelastic demand just a little but maximize the revenue.
That still doesn't explain how Bush is helping to keep gas prices high.

gore wouldn't have invaded iraq. opec wouldn't have gotten scared. gas prices wouldn't have surged.
So we invaded Iraq to get more expensive oil? That's a new one.

[onnihs]

So we invaded Iraq to get more expensive oil? That's a new one.

um, no. bush's idiotic crusade in iraq caused opec to shit their pants, thus causing the fluctuating oil prices. my point was that Gore wouldn't have made such a blunder.

Bush's idiocy directly caused our swollen gas prices. i have no idea how one can deny that.

and btw, the notion that we invaded Iraq so that Bush can capitalize on oil profits is not a new one... it's a common idea shared by many Europeans and Americans alike. The fact of the matter is, no one knows what Bush's true intentions are/were, but we all do know that Bush is a bumbling, uneducated idiot who doesn't understand the word "humanity," and has a dangerously nationalistic approach in his foreign policy.

he is the very reason why our constitution limits presidents to only two terms. thank god for that one.

[yoMAMA]

That still doesn't explain how Bush is helping to keep gas prices high.


So we invaded Iraq to get more expensive oil? That's a new one.

more expensive oil=fat profits for the oil companies.

it makes perfect sense.

of coures it contributes to inflation and it's bad for the consumres...but who cares about them anyways?

[Yeahman]

more expensive oil=fat profits for the oil companies.

it makes perfect sense.
Maybe to wacky conspiracy theorists. There's a 180 degree shift in conspiracy theory if I ever saw one. First it was about getting cheaper oil. Now it's about making oil more expensive?
Why is the US so buddy-buddy with the Saudis then? Why not just piss them off so we can pay even more for oil?

The fact of the matter is that OPEC increased output to make up for the disruption in supply caused by the war. The Bush Administration unsuccessful fought for even more output. The economy benefits with cheaper oil. The uncertainity of Iraqi supply has led to higher prices.

The most logical explaination for the war in Iraq is that Bush bought into the neo-con vision of planting a seed of democracy in the Middle East that would infect the rest of the region.

[Jung Rhee]

Maybe to wacky conspiracy theorists. There's a 180 degree shift in conspiracy theory if I ever saw one. First it was about getting cheaper oil. Now it's about making oil more expensive?


The above statement is false, getting cheap oil and making oil more expensive are two different things. They are NOT contradictory to each other.