I was being sarcastic; actually there is a shortage of competition. Look at how many small companies have folded to the bigger companies and how many big companies have merged. Try to name a company 3 years ago that is still the same company or has not merged with a larger company. It’s tough to think of one, and there are fewer companies yet they are FAR larger today. The power to set prices increases as competition diminishes. It is against the law to set prices, but without powerful competition there is no motive to reduce prices. So as one company raises prices others follow suite. Believe me the oil companies are swelling up with money right now. It has not always been that way and they are certainly taking advantage of it before conditions change. The customer is being fleeced, the employees are being skimmed, stock value is not rising as fast as profits (see at the annual reports). Oil company executives were asked to come to Washington last summer to explain why gasoline in Kansas was at $2 /gal while crude at a record low. There was some cute shell game that the purchased crude did not reflect the current market. One would expect then that once this high priced crude was run then hold on to your hats because the cheap stuff is following! Prices should plummet, they didn’t, profits rose. I watch as our crude buys get better and better, I also watch finished products slowly inch up, while production is at max rate. We would love to figure a way to shove another quart of crude through at these prices. Bush is deep in big oil; think he wants to pull in the reigns? I don’t think so, and if forced to, I don’t think he won’t pull toooo hard. I’m all far big oil, as long as there are beneficiaries (and I don’t mean just a few at the top). ExxonMobil CEO’s annual compensation is 55% MORE than the COMBINED compensation of FIVE other MAJOR oil companies (published in this years annual report). During that same time 19,000 people became unemployed, benefits dropped, and stock prices held close (did advance very slightly), and crude prices dropped. Who got the money?
Note: I admit, I am biting the hand that feeds me in that I work for big oil, I hold a large quantity of oil stock and I have interest in 8 wells, my profits are small and I pay high prices for fuel like everyone else.