NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. regulatory probe into potential oil-market trading abuses is focusing on possible short-term manipulation of benchmark crude prices and the use of information related to important oil storage tanks to influence prices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Big Oil
U.S. oil probe focusing on price manipulation: report
*This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan - more information here. There is also a Wikipedia segment, the Shell DPA Files, "Shell and the Spies", the Shell Leaks files, the Independent Shell Archive, as well as books written and published by John Donovan - Kindle eBooks. Timeline of the Donovan Shell Feud. Toxic History of Royal Dutch Shell Group. Shell and the Donovans: The Full Media Record — 550+ Articles, 110 Books, 40 Years. *All conjured up by internet wizz, Nick Gill.
Blame Congress for High Oil Prices
Gasoline prices are through the roof and Americans are angry. Someone must be to blame and the obvious villain is "Big Oil" with its alleged ability to gouge consumers and achieve unconscionable, "windfall" profits. Congress is in a vile mood, and has dragged oil industry executives before its committees for show trials, issuing predictable threats of punishment, e.g. a "windfall profits tax." But if there is a villain in all of this, it is Congress itself.
Big Oil and Lawmakers Spar Over Supplies
WASHINGTON -- As oil prices crossed $130 a barrel Wednesday, industry executives defended themselves against lawmakers blaming them for high prices, while asking senators to open access to domestic resources and reject tax increases.
The Majors Look West, Again
After years of shunning North America and Europe in favor of exotic locales that promised oil in far greater quantities at a much lower cost, the industry's largest players have come crawling back. The reason? Those big projects have been difficult to pull off and haven't made up for declining production in more mature regions like the U.S. Last year the five largest U.S. and British oil companiesExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), and ConocoPhillips (COP), which together account for 11% of worldwide outputsaw their oil production slide 3%, to 10 million barrels per day. Those shrinking supplies are one reason that oil now tops $125 a barrel.
Investors get much of Big Oil’s cash windfall
Executives such as Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer say their companies are doing their bit. Shell invested $7.6 billion in the first quarter, more than larger rival Exxon.
STOP SUBSIDIZING BIG OIL
In 2006, the CEO of ExxonMobil exclaimed that, gosh, his corporation was rolling in so much profit that he simply didn't know how to spend it all.
Taxing oil profits: Proceed with caution
"If our profits are taxed, that means we'll have less capital to invest in new production" and it could raise gas prices, John Hofmeister, president of Shell U.S., recently told CNNMoney.com.
A Crude Game: Paying For Our Own Destruction
Today six "supermajors"Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, and the French Totaldominate the world oil market.
Big Oils Friends in the Senate
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: Big Oils Friends in the Senate
Published: May 5, 2008
Listen to almost any politician, President Bush included, and youll hear that the fight against global warming cannot be won without cleaner technologies that will ease dependence on fossil fuels. Yet these same politicians are on the verge of allowing modest but vital tax credits to expire that are crucial to the future of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
These credits are necessary to attract new investment in renewable sources until they become competitive with cheaper, dirtier fuels like coal. When the credits disappear, investments shrivel. The production tax credit for wind energy has been allowed to expire three times. In each case, new investment dropped by more than 70 percent. The credits for wind and solar expire at the end of this year, so action now is important.
Time for big oil to explore places it would rather avoid
Rising costs and taxes, and limited access to new supplies help explain why BP and Shell have performed so badly and underperformed US peers ExxonMobil and Chevron. But other factors have been at work, such as the fatal accident at BP's Texas City oil refinery and the reserve misreporting scandal at Shell.
