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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (155762)	1/25/2006 9:43:13 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 793914

>>Could it be because Exxon doesn't want more competition so we could have lower prices?????<< KLP, you are not allowed to complain about oil company profits! That privilege is reserved for Democrats. <g> >>why was the price so high after the Gulf Coast hurricanes took some of the refineries down<< Both oil production and refinery capacity were substantially impacted. The price increase was needed to reallocate global supplies, and it worked. It makes no economic sense for the oil industry to maintain substantial excess refining capacity just so they can maintain price stability during emergencies. That is more of a government function, like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I suppose the government could spend $25 billion to build some spare refineries and pay $x billion a year to keep them on standby, but we are more at risk of an oil crisis than a refining crisis. >>Then WHY are the prices of the refined gas types so expensive for the consumer?<< Mostly due to high oil prices, with a small effect from higher refining margins. "It's the price of oil, stupid!", as they say. The answer is to own some oil company stocks and enjoy the profits, or drive a moped like Lindy. <g>