How appropriate. How ironic. Bloomberg quoting Hank Paulson on a plane heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia "If you look at the facts, they show that the price of oil is about supply and demand". Duh!? -- Thereby echoing the oiligopoly's dissembling mantra, which was hereby characterized in a recent post, namely "supply and demand is what you say when you want the other person to know that you think they are an idiot" (please see "Oil -- Congress Finally Takes Charge Yet Must do Much Much More" 05.29.08).
This from a man who is clearly aware of the collusionary workings of OPEC, a cartel whose actions in restraint of trade through limiting supply, would land them in American jails were they not protected by sovereign immunity. Further he must have certainly been aware of the intentions of a newly awakened CFTC whereby his colleague, Acting Chairman Walter Lukken, said in an interview just days ago that the CFTC "will leave no stone unturned" to make sure the oil market isn't being manipulated.
Given the clear facts (OPEC is not a figment of anyone's imagination) Paulson's statement gives underpinnings to perhaps the greatest swindle in history, the current price of crude oil on world markets. Certainly a heist from the world's pockets of this magnitude needs cover and validation by those in positions of authority lest we wake up to the fact of how badly we are being fleeced. And that is what Hank Paulson, our Secretary of the Treasury, brings to the table.
Now why would a man so obviously knowledgeable go out of his way to coddle members of the OPEC cabal and the oil industry generally? Consider the following: certainly Secretary Paulson is fully aware that these very oil states accounted for about half of the $3.3 trillion of the assets currently parked in the world's sovereign wealth funds.
And while visiting the region he has made it clear that the "United States continues to welcome investment from this part of the world." In a few months time Hank Paulson will no longer be Secretary of the Treasury. Perhaps this is the reason Paulson, an old Goldman Sachs hand, is so keen to whitewash the manipulations of OPEC, the Middle East's torrential money machine.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1c9f4e27-376a-49c8-a244-25730c4bbbe8
On Monday, on Cspan, I listened to a guy state that at least 50 percent of oil price was speculation and that Dubi and the British were in charge of monitoring the glut. It was a very good meeting with lots of answers and a bigger picture of what is happening in the hands of Bush. You would get a better picture if you went to the Cspan archives and find the meeting. I have limited writing and memory abilities. This meeting is a must see for those looking for the big picture and you will never see it on corporate media.
And what a laugh the next day to see one after another of Texas Republicans stand up and hollar for more drilling. Scum. do you think that we could get one of them to commit to selling the oil drillled here to stay here. Fat chance. At the meeting Texas oil was singled out for their dealings with Dubi.
Today we had the chance to see and hear from once again Professor Michael Greenberger who was the Director of the Commodities and Futures Commission I have seen and heard him before both of C-Span Journal and NPR..Today along with George Soros, and others testified before the Senate Commerce Committee and one thing is true we can almost immediately get the prices under control by re-instituting the regulations that will undo the Enron loophole that is responsible for our Sub Prime, Oil and Gas prices and the food prices and crisis..
Google Michael Greenberger learn and hear as much as you can this country is under attack by these swindlers like Phil Gramm and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, Dubai , West Texas, and London traders..
It's nothing less than asymmetrical economic warfare against America...!
Go hear Michael Greenberger any where you can..Google him and you'll learn and hear it all..
When prices of a commodity increase that has the effect of drawing more players into the business of supplying that commodity due to the percieved higher profit margins to be had.
I think our own government is hindering the natural playout of this process by so severely restricting our ability to extract the resources we have remaining on our own soil. Had we been further developing nuclear, mining oil shale, drilling in ANWAR, etc, etc. we would not be having this conversation right now. We have handed this power to the OPEC by our own actions. Our government actions over the years are hindering the proper functioning of our capitalistic system.
We get little from the Middle East. Here in TX and OK oil well owners can only pump
500 gal per month and get paid much like the farmers do for NOT PRODUCING.
We have enough oil in Alaska for the whole of the USA for the next 200 years. What is
being pumped in Alaska right now is being sold to Japan. Does that make sense?
Why is it that not only the oil in the USA costs so much but also in the rest of the world.
China has downed their demand for oil by 3.5% yet the market did not adjust.
Our gas consumption is down and still, no adjustment. I hear gasoline refineries
saying they are not making money. Write to your congressman/woman and demand
they change the way the oil is being traded via Future's Market, oil being traded on paper
rather than real deliveries by demand. Let us get off our duff and do something!
Part of the testimony was that from 25% to 50% of the current price is due to speculation and that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are actually hoarding oil now.
The hearing was before the senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. Cantwell.
Do you think Mr Learsy reads these comments? I wish he would as he might realize that he could have more to write about besides the "Big Conspiracy To Bilk hard working Americans". Besides, there is already a shift going on in the U.S. that can't (or shouldn't) be ignored, albeit probably too little to late.
Anyway, carry on.
Even though relatively small compared to the total market Enron managed to manipulate the market price of electric power. The state of California spent billions subsidizing California utilities to keep the power flowing. Enron bought and sold from themselves and ultimately made extra profit because they had "gamed" the price up.
And remember, Kenneth Lay was a big Bush supporter.
One key to this is a loophole, still in existence, that permits certain types of electronic commodity trading to go unreported --- "dark markets" , "dark pools"
Who are the wiseguy traders gaming the oil market? Big Oil? The Saudis? Hedge Funds? Halliburton?
Read this wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#The_involvement_of_Enron
I suspect that the sheiks can still play pretty rough, although they haven't needed to with Republican presidents all these years. Cut prices in half and destroy solar/wind/geo. Cut supply and destroy the dollar. Ratchet up the death-to Israel rhetoric, boost the next-of-kin bonuses to despondent Arab street youth and watch the West tear itself to pieces. Pingpong futures contract prices the way the Enron idiots (friends of W) did in Calfiornia. Have a major "accident" or two or three - ships? refineries? wellheads? How about a Liberian-flag single-hull supertanker full of Arabian Gulf crude slams into a Gulf of Mexico drill rig? "Oops, sorry!"
It's a dangerous world out there. Having an entire U.S. administration totally prostituted to the House of Saud is pretty grim - and that is exactly what we have.
It's a little disingenuous to call OPEC an illegal outfit, when they are merely engaging in mercantilism. You call this an epic "swindle" but the swindle has been going on for decades, and it's only the recent pinch that has anyone crying.
Could you explain your article more, please, because it seems what you're saying is it was okay to get held over a barrel by OPEC when it was a little cheaper and now that they're tightening up, they're criminals.
Isn't US energy policy, capitalism, and the GOP the real culprits here? Thank you.