The weekend past, the most auto traveled of the year, gasoline hit a record Labor Day high. It is well past time for all our branches of government, in the name of the nations bludgeoned consumers, to stop playing doormat to the oil interests, most especially the machinations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The United States is the world's largest consumer of oil, and instead of using its massive purchasing power to forge a level playing in the oil market it has consistently permitted OPEC, and oil interests piggybacking on OPEC's manipulations (to ever higher oil/gasoline prices), to make us dance to their tune, hiding under the preposterous umbrella of 'sovereign immunity,' permitting OPEC's collusive practices countenanced by an out of touch U.S. judicial branch of government, as though sovereign economic aggression was analogous to not giving parking tickets to cars with diplomatic plates. This has now gone on for years with a near fivefold increase in the price of oil since the turn of the century with nary a push back from our government or its agencies.
Yet some years ago, in 2007, there was a genuine effort to change the equation in a fundamental way when Congress voted overwhelmingly, in defiance of the oil lobby and their allied interests for the NOPEC bill, so named because it would allow the international oil cartel, OPEC, and its national oil companies operating outside the law, hiding behind our sovereign immunity shield, to be sued and held accountable for what are clearly anti-competetive attempts to limit the world's supply of petroleum and the consequent impact on oil prices.
In defiance of oil interests Congress voted overwhelmingly for the Bill (70 votes to 23 in the Senate and 345 to 72 in the House). This was an act of refreshing and courageous leadership by our Congress only to be abandoned after President George W. Bush, that great stalwart of oil interests and friend of Saudi Arabia, made it clear that he would veto the bill should it land on his desk.
Anti-OPEC legislation has a long history and varied forms of a NOPEC bill have been introduced some 16 times since 1999, only to be vehemently resisted by the oil industry, its allied oil interests like the American Petroleum Institute and their legion of "K" Street Lobbyists, fully cognizant that the higher OPEC can push oil prices the greater the profits for domestic oil companies. Then, of course, the diplomatic pressure by potentially impacted national interests as the assertion of the UAE's oil minister Mohamed bin Dhaen al-Hamli not so subtle threat, "If the U.S. wants to sue (OPEC) member countries it's extremely dangerous."
In 2000, the proposed bill took form as the "Oil Price Reduction Act and International Energy Fair Pricing Act" seeking to force the president to reevaluate or even suspend economic and security ties to those states engaged in "oil price fixing to the detriment of the U.S. economy."
The legal loophole has not only permitted collusion among OPEC member states to impact the price and availability of oil, but equally insidious has permitted their national oil companies, the instruments of OPEC manipulation, to control important swaths of America's refinery capacity such as PDVSA, Venezuela's national oil company's ownership of CITGO with its significant refineries at Corpus Christie TX., Lamont, ILL., and Lake Charles, LA. supplying 13,500 domestic gasoline stations, thereby having direct impact on U.S. gasoline prices and availability. This while on May 31 of this year a valve turning ceremony took place at Port Arthur, LA. signaling the completion of the Motiva Enterprises Refinery, owned 50 percent by Saudi Aramco and 50 percent by Shell, of their 600,000b/d refinery expansion, making it the largest refinery in the U.S.
Opportunistically situated at Port Arthur with its access to the world's shipping lanes, it is strategically placed to export petroleum-based commodities such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, etc. to world markets taking pricing pressure off America's growing production of oil and keeping oil prices up, which is Saudi Aramco's primary strategic business, and Shell's not far behind. Ironically perhaps, perhaps better said purposefully with malice aforethought, the plants 600,000 b/d capacity is almost the equivalent of America's new oil frontier, North Dakota, with its daily oil production of 600,000 barrels/day.
In the face of OPEC and oil interests riding roughshod over the nations economic interests, this administration showed its true colors in the eye-opening court case, litigated during the past year:
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (No. 06-3569) Spectrum Stores Inc.....et al Plaintiffs-Appellants v. CITGO Petroleum Corporation; Petroleos De Venezuela S.A. ....et.al.
With the plaintiffs charging that the Venezuelan State Oil Company is "liable under the Sherman Act for its participation in a global price-fixing conspiracy with the OPEC member nations and other private oil companies."
Given the issue of "Sovereign Immunity" the court asked the Obama administration to file a brief commenting on the merits of the complaint. Incredibly, the administration filed an amicus brief upholding the defendants argument that the plaintiffs had no standing because of the principle of 'Sovereign Immunity' and joined by the Department of State, Treasury, Energy and Justice Departments.
This was a sea change from not only the president's position, but also his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton when both were serving in the Senate. Then Senator Clinton was co-sponsor of the "S.879 (110th): No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Act of 2007" sponsored by Senator Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) on March 17, 2007 -- "a bill to amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal." As cited above the Bill was introduced in April of that year but was not enacted.
President, then Senator Obama voted "Yes" for the NOPEC Act of 2007, on making oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. Voting "Yes" would have amended the Sherman Act, making it a violation for any state:
On February 29 of this year Sen. Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Senates Judiciary Committee, introduced once again the "No Oil Producing & Export Cartels (NOPEC) Act." Senator Kohl's clarion call is lucid and should finally be heeded:
"Now is the time, with the people we represent seeing soaring energy prices eat into their family budgets, to finally pass this legislation into law and give our nation a long needed tool to counteract this pernicious and anti-consumer conspiracy."
Clearly the Bill has gone nowhere because it did not have the administration's support. And therein lies the crux of the issue.
Is the Obama administration as pathetically submissive to OPEC and oil industry pressures as the Bush administration? How would they deal with this issue if they were given "four more years." And not to be left out, how would a Romney administration handle this hot potato? These are important questions that need be asked now, before the election, so Americans will have an understanding on whose side the next elected President is on, the oil barons or the battered American consumer.
Listen to Raymond Learsy on WHDD an NPR station: http://podcasts.am1020whdd.com/~am1020wh/shows/play.php?id=19631
Follow Raymond J. Learsy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/raymondLearsy
ps :The Huffington post readers are different and i think a bit more informed that the tabloids reader where this article belongs. .
The article describes new refineries being opened, that alone should bring down the price of oil, demand has been declining since 2007 but still gas prices jeep rising, and it is about to happen again.
The fed is suspected to do another stimulus or QE3 which is a nice way of saying he is about to pump more liquidity or money into the economy, as soon as that happens you will see gas prices rise again, it is a way for oil companies to suck up the stimulus, they will blame it on rumors of war or war itself. Oil speculators in wall street will have a field day and their biggest client, the military, will go into gas guzzling mode again. The American consumer will pay the tab and we'll be back where we started in no time.
Raymond, i love that!
I have never seen addiction described as something that has a characteristic of "massive purchasing power" that can be used to get better prices as if it is something that can be mandated by congress or some governmental entity.
We are actually, in reality, competing for the oil that is on the market with the other addicts, and have agreed- thru allegedly well supplied markets- to pay what we are paying.
bon appetit !
In other words, we should have the power to artificially set gasoline prices for domestic use. Gas companies are making record profits year after year and its time for them to 'give back' to the American economy.Lets take care of our own before we sell to the world market.
In other words, we should have the power to artificially set gasoline prices for domestic use. Gas companies are making record profits year after year and its time for them to 'give back' to the American economy.Lets take care of our own before we sell to the world market.
A Non-Profit Documentary ( for national broadcast distribution) being produced under the 501c3 covering of the IFP (www.ifp.org). Our budget is just under $200K; your donations are tax deductible.
We will be focusing our lens on the hardworking, middle American's who live, work and play in the clean and charming oil town of Van,Texas. We have been contractually granted unfettered access to all township properties and personnel, and not one citizen we have contacted has declined access to property or to be interviewed. - Katie Couric's producers contacted the town requesting to film a piece there; they flatly declined that request. --- This project they believe has merit and benefit for all American's.
We have commitments from The Brookings Institute and the Institute for Energy Research.
PREMISE / OUTLINE
1. We have enough oil (Proven Reserves) to supply our nations needs for the next 200 years
2. Oil producers are competent at extracting oil safely when held to a high standard (as evidenced in the town of Van, Texas)
3. We need the cost of petroleum products to come down; sky rocketing prices are crushing middle-America
4. We need a flush of high paying, enduring career jobs.
5. We are buying approximately 65% of our nations crude oil from other countries.
6. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to promote energy independence. Why have they failed us?
VISIT: www.AllAmericanOilProject.com
Rick Denny
Seer Asylum Studio
Garden Valley, TX
Until then, shove it.
The fossil fuel industry are the biggest Socialists in the history of the planet.
There is nothing “Conservative” about keeping farmers in this country from growing industrial hemp.
http://relegalize.info/hemp/08-organic-biofuel.shtml
Our premise is predicated upon the fact that we have enough Oil under our own soil to meet the needs of our nation for the next 200 years (www.instituteforenergyresearch.org), and yet we are presently buying 65% of what we need and use from other nations.
Additionally, America needs a flush of high-paying jobs. If we were to open up drilling, create jobs, and bring down the price of oil, you and everyone you care about would benefit.
Myself, I think and strongly feel that it's way past due time that we see cleaner, safer, more efficient technologies come to market. That said, I am very much confronted by the harsh realities of our present moment in history: Our nation needs a flush of high-paying, enduring jobs, right now. We are consuming millions of barrels of oil per day, and we're buying over 50% from other countries. Few would argue that we should not be dependent on OPEC to meet our nations needs.
Presently, petroleum products are not only fueling (nearly) every means of transportation, but consider the prevalence of plastics in your life, the lubricants that keep moving parts running smoothly, and so on. RIGHT NOW, if oil stopped flowing - life as "you" know it ceases to be.
We are in the process of making an educational film designed to bring awareness to the American public regarding important, relevant issue and related facts that must be disclosed. This is a non-profit venture; I am working 7 days a week, on my own dime.
So, what are you doing to help your country?
ALL AMERICAN OIL - join us in Facebook.
I wonder about the complications though. Can we afford to cut them off? And how would we go about enforcing such a ruling against sovereign nations?
It seems to me that maybe a better approach would be to flood the market with alternatives to OPEC oil. Ramp up domestic production as much as possible. Tap Canadian oil to the greatest extent possible. Open up our markets to sugar cane ethanol. Support technology to convert coal to oil.
If we reduce their market share, we reduce their power too.
Reason why no mention of industrial Hemp?
I can see by the content of your post that you most likely consider yourself a conservative.
What does that mean to you anyway? Conservative?
I can also see that you really are a low information as to knowing about the protected markets in energy and the socialization of externalities onto the populace in the fossil fuel industry.
It's expensive. look it up.
And you so called conservatives never manage to call out the biggest Socialists in world history or even ask that they pay the costs of their externalities. Not to mention their 100year and counting tax subsidies and special carve outs for such nonsense as "depletion allowances".
Hence,this is why the industry can continue it's monopoly in this country even though the big players have zero loyalty to America or the people.
These unAmerican multinational corporations are able to avoid paying even close to fair royalties for our resources because of their lobbying, and then get to sell OUR resources back to us at WORLD MARKET prices! Does this sound Conservative? Not even close.
I think you possibly support this current arraignment possibly without even knowing it.
Any rational patriotic American rightly can't see anything "conservative" about the people who continue to protect this deeply entrenched racket.
Conservative? More like unpatriotic punks selling our country down the river.
There is nothing “Conservative” about keeping farmers in this country from growing industrial hemp.
Secondly, we can have a discussion about "externalities" if you wish, but that is kinda a separate issue from whether we can trust-bust OPEC. Any externalities would apply equally, I think, to oil regardless of the source.
As for all this blather about "subsidies" and royalties, oil extraction companies are treated EXACTLY the same as every other mineral extraction company acting in the country. If the laws need tweaked, okay, I suppose. I'm not sure what big problem you're proposing to solve though.
a) Invade the middle east and take control of the oil fields.
b) nationalize US OIl interests banning the export of US developed petroleum products and double US oil production to meet US demand. (Our oil does tend to be deeper and dirtier and therefore more expensive however.)
petroleum is for far more than cars and we simply can't do without it. Nor have we positioned ourselves to economically survive any significant disruption.
Opec nations don't have to sell to america the rest of the world is just as dependent on oil. Cut production drastically, stop selling to the US and they could make their same profit from the rest of the world while extending their supply availability.
This holds true until we have a viable alternative energy source to power our economy.
Personally I'ld say try a corporation that has made an oil production deal with an OPEC member state(As these deals are with governments) and is therefore party to an agreement to negatively impact the US economy with a foreign hostile power under the treason sections of the US constituion if you want a judicial legal hammer.
Complete nonsense.
ANYTHING made from hydrocarbon fossil fuels,
could be made from organic carbohydrates!
Hemp seed oil can be used to produce ORGANIC non-toxic diesel fuel, lamp lighting, household detergents, stain removers, printing inks, paints, varnishes, lubricants, resins, and oils. Because hemp seeds account for up to half the weight of a mature hemp plant, hemp seed is a viable source for these products. In industrial 'chemicals', hempseed oil is similar to linseed oil. Superior quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937.
There is nothing “Conservative” about keeping farmers in this country from growing industrial hemp.
http://relegalize.info/hemp/08-organic-biofuel.shtml
Yours is a very populist argument. Obama is likely to favor gasoline/diesel pricing not being manipulated by plutocrats, but may not need to say so - his supporters *understand* (wink wink, nudge nudge), and his silence denies his opponents a weapon.
However! The Sherman and Clayton Acts and other price-fixing laws are on the books now. In theory, all of the actions a new law would forbid may already be forbidden. Enforcing existing laws should appeal to those of a conservative bent. This is Teddy Roosevelt trust-buster stuff, and might be favored by our present weird Congress if Obama were to speak out against it, for example.
My own view is that the first world (non-US) strategy of taxing transportation fuel to encourage fuel economy, pay for infrastructure and replacement energy source development, etc., is generally sound. While not inherently populist - indeed, it can stress low-income people - it can be manipulated like the Strategic Oil Reserve to counter OPEC. It might lower deficits, albeit on the backs of personal vehicle users and consumers impacted by fuel cost pass-through. Barring subsidies, people with low and inelastic income - a great many marginally-employed people in our lethargic recovery - are once again thrust into the chemo-or-radiation, food-or-rent quandary. Clinton-level income tax restoration is needed anyway to enhance recovery without additional deficit; if this increases labor needs, it raises wages for those most impacted by higher fuel taxes.
Look no further than Obama handing the levers of government power over the Wall Street architects of deregulation and financial collapse. Look no further than his administration's failure to extend a hand to struggling Americans even as trillions are still lavished onto Wall Street.
Look at Obama's immediate capitulation on a single-payer healthcare system even though Americans pay 4-5 times more per capita than all developed nation -- and millions go without.
Look no further than the failure of his administration to pursue and prosecute any of the egregious and systematic crimes of Wall Street.
Yes -- without doubt -- he is the lesser of evils. However, as citizens of a solid "red state", I will not condone a country ruled by self-serving elitist. For others in my situation, I encourage you to elevate the power of non-elitist party and vote for Jill Stein, Green Party, for President.