As Gas Prices Reach New Highs, Oil Companies Are Profiteering

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“In calling on oil producers to act patriotically, the White House is confronting an entire industry that is now operating according to the strict logic of shareholder capitalism,” JohnCassidy writes.

With the price of crude oil soaring to more than a hundred dollars a barrel this year, and A.A.A. reporting that the average national gas price reached a new high of $4.37 per gallon last week, Big Oil has been making historic profits. In the first three months of 2022, ExxonMobil pocketed $5.5 billion after taxes; Chevron gained $6.3 billion; and ConocoPhillips made $5.8 billion. Smaller energy producers, which are concentrated in the U.S.

What about increasing output? Exxon and Chevron both reported that, during the first quarter, their over-all production of oil and gas, which is pumped from drilling facilities in many parts of the world, fell slightly compared with the previous quarter. On the domestic front, both companies said that their U.S. operations produced slightly less crude in the first quarter of this year than they did in the previous three months, but more than they did in the first quarter of 2021.

In a recent survey of executives at more than a hundred oil and gas firms, carried out by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, nearly sixty per cent of respondents said that the “investor pressure to maintain capital discipline” was the primary factor holding back the growth of production. Given this pressure from Wall Street, many energy executives, particularly those at smaller firms, are perfectly willing to defy the White House.

 

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It is not oil prices that are driving high retail fuel prices in the US, it's the lack of drop in refinery capacity and reduction of imports of refined products from Russia

The stupid, it burns.

What if they cut off the subsidies, instead of just talking?

The first rule of neolib club, is to deny neolib club exists. The second rule of neolib club is to pretend that voting for deregulation and unchecked free markets as a senator didn't result in the 'invisible hand' guiding price gauging and wealth hoarding.

Leave it to this administration to take a big part in causing the problem (inflation - high oil), but to wag their finger at others to fix it...

The fact that potus and his team haven't figured out that corporations care about money above all else...it sure doesn't make me feel like they're right for this moment.

Well, if you're not going to do anything to stop them, why would they stop themselves?

It is ridiculous no one is talking about POTUS using the DefenseProductionAct to take control of US oil and gas production in the midst of a war where oil and gas are central issues

are the people in the biden admin children? how naive can they be?

If I thought this was bad, I simply would not base my entire economic system off the sole goal of private firms maximizing their profits

Gas prices were rising before Ukraine though. There's more to it and you know it but you don't dare investigate & report the truth of the matter. It obvious what's going on for those paying attention.

'In the first three months of 2022, ExxonMobil pocketed $5.5 billion after taxes; Chevron gained $6.3 billion; and ConocoPhillips made $5.8 billion.' greed

And they call the left naive.

They're doubling-down on reducing supply to boost prices, only accelerating the shift away from gas vehicles to electrics and transit investment, because it's likely that overall demand has now peaked and there's no going back.

Make a law that prohibits this from happening. Profits must go to the people. No bloodmoney.

The oil companies don't set the cost of oil!

That's just capitalism

Has Biden never seen how a company operates until today

Tax the US oil profiteers with a windfall tax

Oh yes, it’s all caused by greed. That’s why the price of used cars is up 50%.

Considering Biden threatened jail time for executives for just running their business, I don’t blame them. Also oil price is set globally, they are just selling at the global rate. Biden administration just looking for quick and easy blame game.

Corporate greed and price gouging is the cause. Do not confuse the issue.

USGreenCard justice HumanRights Humanity EqualRights justice delayed is justice denied, this is unbelievable truth, God Bless America All,

I mean if a guy had an ounce of concern for other people he wouldn’t be a fucking oil company executive, now would he?

Are you sure? Half of the price is actually government taxes and fees

tiny prove trouble no friend

Oil companies:

I mean, you do that shit to countries with brown people all the time.

No, it's not beyond you. You're the fucking president, do something.

Biden is in bed w/ big oil = war, ICE vehicles & corrupt unions which is why the left relentlessly attacks & publishes hit pieces against Tesla the one co. bringing green energy to market. saddest part are the sheep that support a party that does nothing for them

With all this evolving technology, has the cost on living ever gone down for ordinary working people? Production goes up, profits go up, the cost of living goes up, but wages remain stagnant. Isn't this something that should be looked into?

Companies do it to workers every day. Insurance companies do it to the sick. Banks do it to the poor. Unchecked capitalism has led to an almost complete lack of humanity in the United States. So, why is this administration shocked, again?

That’s what happens when CEOs are incentivised they way that they are. They’ll gouge on price, and make stupid short-term decisions on costs so that they hit their targets for the year.

All Biden has to do is roll back domestic oil prices to $60/barrel. World oil prices are merely a fabrication of manipulators as there are no shortages of oil or gas. No lines at gas stations, no reason for $110 oil. Also, stop subsidizing big oil and start subsidizing consumers

This is a self report

🌟capitalism🌟

Hahahahaha

Assuming this person was literally born yesterday

Whoa turns out corporations don’t have moral compasses and they do what gives them the biggest profits, I know this is a huge shock, especially to Biden Administration staffers, but this is your system! You guys keep it in place, so you should learn what it is

Maybe make it illegal? Idk, y'all just run the country

Let’s fix it: “Unbelievable,” a Third World diplomat said, “how the greedy West burns the planet’s ecology. Then condemns the Global South, ‘Fu*k you poor sub-humans! We rich North Americans, and Europeans will continue with the plunder.’ ClimateJusticeNow 🤑💸🇺🇸🇪🇺vs.☄️🌎🌍🌏

hurting people for profits and squeezing the poor until they die is the actual american dream

Personally I don’t think a presidential administration role is an appropriate job for someone who just fell off the turnip truck, but what do I know

exxon was revealed to have scientific proof that fossil fuels were a huge contributor to global warming and hid it. they then paid scientist to say the opposite.

THEN WHY DONT THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

I mean it's pretty simple, the only social contract left in America is that corporations run wild and government looks the other way. Of course another issue is corporations are trying to make Biden look bad (and he sucks don't get me wrong) so they can get Trump back in.

Because that's entirely how the corporate world functions, potus. How are you this bad at understanding pretty much everything you're supposed to know for your entire career?

wow, you guys r finally discovering capitalism

¹Biden signed executive orders hamstringing American oil companies his first week in office instantly driving prices up by $1/gallon. ²Government taxes triple what oil companies profit per gallon, so if oil companies are so greedy, what does that make 'our' government?

sarahleah1 Why are Dems still so gobsmacked by demonstrations of unfettered capitalism that not only increase profits but are designed to hurt Dems politically?

He can say that with a straight face while representing *America*?

sarahleah1 ‘The Foreign Office has forgotten us’: Morad Tahbaz’s daughter speaks out on him still being incarcerated in Iran

Boy, did the Democratic Party ever nominate the wrong candidate. 🙄

democrats could have sent someone who knows the amount of damage corporations are willing to cause in pursuit of profits but they choose biden instead so this is what were stuck with and it absolutely sucks

They can’t honestly be … I’m gonna say naïve but really mean stupid

Gambling, in this establishment?!

A brutally naive Biden Administration official

“It’s beyond us,” has been the major recurring theme of the Biden administration. “Nothing we can do, sorry!”

Because we’ve never seen corporations profit off war before.

Call em out, you have the power. Get Biden doing a national address and call the CEO's of oil companies out. Don't act like you can't do anything.

We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs.

Er oil companies have destroyed our habitat and paid politicians and media outlets to lie and cover it up. That's the singlemost basic fact about our reality. Why on earth would they be bothered about a war?

He can possibly be that naive, can he?

Welcome to capitalism, Joe. Sucks, don't it?

They know that high fuel prices while a Democrat is president help them get a Republican back in power who will let them drill and pollute to their greedy little hearts' content.

One oil executive from BP admitted that they are awash with so much cash that they can't possibly do anything with all of it.

...and? What u gonna do about it? Or was this it, make sad sounds and move on.

The answer is that evil lives.

Fitting that the Biden admin is still incapable of understanding that bad faith actors are motivated entirely by self interest

What absolute rubbish. The price of oil and indeed supply and demand is totally outside the control of non opec producers.

JohnCassidy Why would any company invest money in an industry the president wants to kill off in the long term? It makes no economic sense. If you want more production, incentivize it. No one is going to spend money on 20 year capital equipment they can only use for 1 year.

JohnCassidy Wow all thanks to Dr_jasmin_love_spell_caster for bringing back my wife back he is the best check him out utm_medium=copy_link

JohnCassidy 1) why would we expect publicly traded companies to sacrifices profits for political interests. 2) paradoxical to see a push for more oil from those that have aligned with a green agenda. 3) inside of pushing for more oil, why not push for more resilient energy profile

JohnCassidy Oil companies are profiteering - but fuel is still cheap in the USA compared to everywhere else. $4.37 per US gallon? I *wish* I could pay that little. Works out to around $8.29 over here.

JohnCassidy Hat in hand, the “leader” of the USA begs the oligarchs for mercy.

JohnCassidy They gave them this power

JohnCassidy I think back room deals with big oil are going on all over Capitol Hill to keep prices high & production low. Just to own the libs and cause this administration to fail. It’s what they know. So I think it’s what they’re doing. They have no loyalty to country. Only self and party

AlanTudyk JohnCassidy DUH

JohnCassidy I love my oil stocks!!!

AlanTudyk JohnCassidy The oil companies are full of crap. There is no shortage. They're just reaching into the consumers pockets. It's worse than the mob asking for protection money.

JohnCassidy want to see me without a bra?

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