Oil Execs Try To Justify Their Existence On Capitol Hill

This clip is 25 years old. (3.00 / 7)

Seriously.

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by: grannyhelen @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 15:28:45 PM CDT

I saw part of that (3.00 / 4)

And Larry Craig, Lame Duck - ID went on and on lavishing undue praise for them.   I wanted to puke.  

Progressive Blue Blog: Where issues come first

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by: Benny @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 17:22:03 PM CDT

Does one WANT praise from Larry Craig...? (3.00 / 3)

I mean, if Larry Craig thinks you're da bomb, it has to be a moment for self-reflection.

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by: grannyhelen @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 17:28:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's all BS (3.00 / 5)

Just like when they used the excuse of shortages, like that video(25 years old?! Man, that's quite prophetic), when they used that excuse during Katrina(which as beyond shameful). Like you say, money doesn't just show up or fall out of the sky. They are not breaking even(there has to be an index to use that argument, not just  market magic!); They are breaking record after record. I've heard people use inflation as an excuse as if oil backs the U.S dollar and so because of inflation we are seeing the high prices, but that's also BS, because so called American companies(or companies that support America's interest allegedly) have privatized Iraq's oil market so by this logic, inflation should be going down, because long live the private sector from stealing the 3rd largest oil reserves in the world! It doesn't add up and it's complete BS.

Our crippling debt has more to do with inflation and the fact that the the Fed has little interest in doing anything about it, except to rely on "market forces" and "confidence" which is essentially relying on magic, especially since they think pooling out "uncertainty" is risk" which it is not. There's some chance for positive and negative returns with risk. We might as well be starting a cult that worships the mighty market Wizard of Oz. As if magic ever fixed the deregulation of the depression era Glass Steagal wall that separated commercial banks from investment banks. One of Bill Clinton's greatest follies as well as welfare reform which he was pressured to pass and caved by the Republican congress.

I hate it when people use indicators they don't understand to excuse this problem, but I'll get back to the subject at hand.

Now peak oil is real, but it's not here yet(2050), though instead of doing what needs to really be done to prepare for that time, Oil companies like to pretend it's already here to support their coffers when it's suits their needs and when questioned on record breaking prices; who BTW all need to be audited and we need to track hedge funds overseas in the Cayman islands and other places that are tax free are close to it so that those windfall profits can be found and taxed just like they would tax our company bonuses and winning the lotto as you said, they use these lame excuses as their profits grow and grow.

Thanks for the diary, garnnyhelen. I'm not buying it, either.

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by: priceman @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 17:40:19 PM CDT

Awesome vent, priceman! (3.00 / 5)

Really, awesome. I loved your rant on fed policy and inflation - I think Ben Bernanke is attempting the Wonders Of Crossing One's Fingers and seeing what will happen.

It's only the biggest part of common sense to tax windfall profits and do what oil companies refuse to do - i.e., invest in alternate energy resources. And because it's common sense, that's why the Bush admin won't do it.

We're off to see the Wizard, indeed.

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by: grannyhelen @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 17:53:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm glad my venting added to this great diary (3.00 / 3)

And that's how I started my foray into blogging; I vent and realize that others feel the same way. And because of you, my mentor. :-)

lol.Ben Bernanke is also clicking his heels. :D

Exactly, it is common sense, and we haven't seen that in a very long time. I'm beginning to wonder if we ever will, but we have some small hope to hold onto. It just seems as if day to day, the collective "we" can't wait, because things are falling apart that fast, here, and across the globe on so many levels. The world can't wait.

Follow the oil stained road. Oops! Another bridge collapsed from lack of funding infrastructure. Maybe not. :P

:-)

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by: priceman @ Wed May 21, 2008 at 18:08:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Keep this discussion going (3.00 / 3)

Another meme the oil guys have going trickled down to my manicurist.  She said to me yesterday, "I heard oil companies only make 8% profit".  What is the statistic she is quoting?  Is it 8% on every gallon of gas or 8% of the price per barrel?  I said I didn't care what percentage it was when the end result is still record profits while our people are dying in Iraq for the failed mission to control Iraq oil.  Yes, the American oil companies are in their old age.  Our oil peaked in 1971 and their control over production in the Middle Easat is going bye bye.  It doesn't mean we have to prop them up anymore with tax breaks and subsidies.  Time to bid farewell to private oil and welcome to state-owned oil companies. Say goodbye to empire and maybe if we are lucky we will end up wealthy and wiser like the Dutch and British empires before us. (This from Kevin Phillip's new book "Bad Money" which I'm halfway through.)

Kevin Phillips new book also reiterates in his chapter "Finance" , Naomi Klein's theory of the rise of the pseudo economic theory of Miltie Friedman.  He identifies "the collusion of political permissiveness and financial recklessness as the reason why we are really in a pickle.
Time to rein in the rascals and rotate the crop.  

Join the Feral Cats of Freedom Coughing Up Hairballs of Truth  

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by: montanamaven @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 11:04:02 AM CDT

Profit margin (3.00 / 3)

Let's say I sell something for $100 and my profit is $10, then my profit margin is 10%.  If my expenses for this sale is $1, then my net profit margin is 9%.

The average net profit margin for the S&P Energy sector, according to figures from Thomson Baseline, is 9.7%. The average for the S&P 500 is 8.5%.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/2...

So the oil companies made more money because the price of their products went up, even though their profit margins aren't that high (and probably didn't change much).

I can support a windfall profits tax.  This is like a reverse rebate to the government.  A parallel would be the case for retail merchandise, when a manufacturer doesn't want to reduce the retail price but they want to lower the effective final price temporarily, they offer rebate to the consumer.

As for culpability, I have to blame the Bush administration and the Republicans for not encouraging alternative energy development thinking oil is always going to be $50 or less a barrel.  I hope high gas and energy price is one of the reasons they will lose big in November.  

I can't stand Bush putting on this green facade not so long ago by saying we should go hydrogen for vehicle propulsion and pretty much writing off the plug-in hybrid or full electric car.


(-5.75, -3.08)


"Rising tide lifts all boats assumes you have a boat. But, if you are too poor to afford a boat and you are standing tiptoe in the water, the rising tide goes up your nose."  Barney Frank

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by: Andy @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 13:27:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks for the write up... (3.00 / 1)

...and it actually sounds like net profit for the oil industry is above norm from your quote.

See, I'm skeptical as to whether or not Bush thought oil would always be under $50 a barrel - the Bush admin energy policy was always consume, consume, consume and I wonder if that wasn't purposeful to drive up the price.

Who benefits? All of these oil companies, which are a large part of his base.

This is what I don't get (and maybe there's an engineer out there who's a whole lot smarter than me who can explain it)...if the issue with electric cars is the batteries need recharging, and if we can build solar panels and scale them large enough for a house or small enough for a little garden light...

...then why can't we put solar panels on electric cars to help out with the battery re-charge issue?

I know...crazy talk, huh?  

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by: grannyhelen @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 13:40:53 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Solar cells (3.00 / 2)

are thin, brittle and fragile so it may not last when put on a moving vehicle even when mounted in a panel configuration.

(-5.75, -3.08)


"Rising tide lifts all boats assumes you have a boat. But, if you are too poor to afford a boat and you are standing tiptoe in the water, the rising tide goes up your nose."  Barney Frank

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by: Andy @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 16:11:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thank you...I'm not techie in this area... (3.00 / 1)

I wonder if there would be a way of building some type of protection around them...

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by: grannyhelen @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 16:42:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Other factors (0.00 / 0)

Cost effectiveness, concern about solar panel coming apart on collision.

http://www.popularmechanics.co...

Best to design solar into the car instead of doing it after market.

(-5.75, -3.08)


"Rising tide lifts all boats assumes you have a boat. But, if you are too poor to afford a boat and you are standing tiptoe in the water, the rising tide goes up your nose."  Barney Frank

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by: Andy @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 18:08:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Would make more sense to put up more fixed solar panels at where the car is parked (0.00 / 0)

.... such as at the home, or the parking lot, and have more places to plug in the cars to recharge.  Think about it, a car sits most of the time.  Why not park it under a solar array and have it power up ?

The problem with solar is you still need battery storage, may as well put the "juice" into the car batteries immediately, and then use the cars as cars.

Don't expect Big Oil to go gently or quietly into the Good Night. Altho I suspect that even in his wildest dreams Bush didn't expect this big of a cluster**ck.  I did, but I'm a cynic and knew the people helped who screwed up the Vietnam war wanted a do over and they didn't learn anything the first time.

 

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by: AmericanRiverCanyon @ Thu May 22, 2008 at 23:04:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What makes sense is having an array of solar panels (0.00 / 0)

on the garage roof charging a battery continuously, and the ability to switch batteries at the drop of a hat.  

Abstinence programs breed hypocrites.

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by: OklahomaVoter @ Sat May 24, 2008 at 02:31:20 AM CDT

[ Parent ]