Stop complaining about high gas prices – you have it cheap – that is the message from the oil barons to the American public. In parts of Europe, gas prices are $5 per gallon to $7 per gallon, the chairman of ConocoPhillips, James Mulva, argued when he appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Mulva, who appeared with two other oil executives, said they would keep gas prices down, unless another hurricane hit the US. “I do understand why consumers are concerned. The thing that concerns all of us, I think, is that we’re heading into hurricane season again,” added chairman of Chevron, David O’Reilly.

Shell Oil President John Hofmeister also defended the industry profits, saying they were not too high. “If we didn’t have this level of profitability, I don’t think we could get the supplies to where they need to get to.” He added that the companies are seeking greater access to federal lands and offshore waters for exploration.

So lets get this straight – the oil barons argue that its essentially global demand that is forcing up prices, so they want to get more access to US federal lands to drill for oil to keep oil prices down. However, the more they drill the more they cause climate change; climate change causes stronger and more frequent hurricanes. Hurricanes, such as Katrina, disrupt oil supplies, so the price goes up and the more profits the companies make. Does this make sense to you?

One Comment

  • it is a simple fix we as consumers have the right of choice. Don’t buy from shell, mobil, exxon, for two months and let them eat there fuel. Buy from the small guys untill they lower there prices, if we don’t by from them they will have to lower there prices. We can control this if we really want to. There are more of us than them, and we have choices of where we can buy our fuel

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