What Big Oil is All About by James Jaeger The Tyranny of Oil, by Antonia Juhasz, the Ida Tarbell of our time, has some important facts people should know about Big Oil. In summary:
o "Big Oil has turned its mega wealth into mega-political influence. ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Marathon, and other major oil companies use their money to create a labyrinth of financial control that weaves through state houses across the nation, into the courts, and up through the U.S. Capitol and White House. It blocks virtually all other players and seeps through all of the nation's policy-making. With the help of front groups, trade associations, creative media, and the revolving door, more often then not we are not even aware of Big Oil's actions against the public good."
o Alan Greenspan said in his book, Age of Turbulence, "...we are at a point where our national foreign policy is governed by oil and will be for the near future."
o The US military is an international security force (mostly for Big Oil) with over 700 bases in over 140 countries.
o Thus the U.S. has invaded Iraq to acquire its oil.
o Big Oil's war in Iraq will ultimately cost taxpayers over $3 trillion.
o There is an enormous black hole of information surrounding the oil industry. Major investment banker, Matt Simmons confirms this in his book, Twilight in the Desert, and so does exCIA agent, Robert Baer, in his book, Sleeping with the Devil. ExxonMobil is one of the least transparent companies in the world.
o Obama, Clinton and McCain received huge sums from Big Oil.
o The World Bank has provided more than $5 billion in subsidies to the oil industry while devoting only 5% of its energy budget to clean, renewable sources.
Anyone who likes the Washington Post will love what one of its most pompous columnists, Charles Krauthammer, said about the California rolling black outs before the top ENRON executives -- who were driving electricity prices up with futures trading -- were arrested, convicted and/or committed suicide:
While childish Californians "think the rolling blackouts are a conspiracy by the power companies to raise rates" and "politicians are thundering, fingers wagging, and complicated theories are being hatched," the problem is simply that "demand is up and supply is down." -- Charles Krauthammero Big Oil has not built any new refineries in the U.S. in over 30 years in order to artificially drive the price of GASOLINE out the roof. They did this as a reaction to losing control of the Saudi oil fields when such were nationalized. However today, Big Oil is using the U.S. military to retake all the oil fields it lost: starting with Iraq and now machinating on Iran. Saudi Arabia will also be in the mix. Thus, the ONLY reason we are in Iraq and pushing on Iran is because of oil. Anyone that doesn't get that is either an apologist for Big Oil or an idiot.
o ExxonMobile took in profits of over $40 billion on gross revenues of $373 billion in 2007, a rate of return of 31.8% on global operations. ExxonMobil is thus THE MOST PROFITABLE OIL CORPORATION IN THE WORLD, many times over.
o Big Oil trades futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) which is totally unregulated and still uses what's known as the ENRON Loophole or Gramm ENRON Loophole. Such special gov privileges are still in effect, even though ENRON is long gone, because of Big Oil's lobbying power and its influence with the help of the oil-infested Bush Administration.
o Chevron literally moved into ENRON's old building and is doing business as usual with the ENRON Loophole as it rapes and pillages with commodities trading over ICE.
o Futures speculation on ICE enables all of Big Oil, except ExxonMobil, to push up oil prices by as much as 25%. ExxonMobil makes so much money, it has no need to futures trade.
o ICE was founded, and is largely owned by, BP, Shell, TotalFinaElf, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Almost 70% of all oil futures are traded on ICE to escape all regulation. Crude oil contracts on ICE surpass NYMEX. This energy futures market that operates against the public interest, is completely outside gov regulation.
o The oil industry on the whole took in profits at a rate of 27% (10 points higher than all other industries in the same year) for a total of $133 billion in pure collective profit.
o The only other industry that comes close to Big Oil is Big Bank which issues fiat money, created out of thin air. This is why there is a GASOLINE STATION and a BANK on almost EVERY major intersection in the U.S. No one knows how to screw the public like Big Oil and Big Bank.
o Banks are starting to look and become like oil companies as they buy pipelines, storage fields, and even oil wells. J.P. Morgan owns all of the above. Goldman Sachs owns pipelines, terminals and an oil refinery in Kansas and natural gas wells in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, and offshore Louisiana. Morgan Stanley is part owner of 26 oil and gas fields and has custody of a quarter of America's strategic reserve of home heating oil. Big Bank and Big Oil are Big Buddies since Rockefeller and his Standard Oil of New Jersey/Chase Manhattan days.
o Big Oil's profits have consistently been used to purchase the attention and loyalty of the U.S. Congress. Big Oil spent by far more money to get George W. Bush elected than it did any other candidate, at any other time. As a result, Bush named at least 30 former energy executives, lobbyists and lawyers to influential posts (not to mention the VP and Sec of State posts) in his administration and this enabled the oil companies to gain long-term access to new national lands to drill-baby-drill on, it gave them billions in tax breaks, easing of regulations and a seat on every negotiating table.
o Big Oil's financial power over Washington has resulted in over 2,600 mergers in the U.S. since 1991. This has all but wiped out independent refineries thus giving Big Oil an oligopoly over the price of gasoline and domination over the internal-combustion auto industry, as Big Oil owns controlling blocks of stock in all of the major auto companies through agents, street stock and proxies.
o Big Oil's profits do NOT go to better transportation, more affordable fuel-efficient cars or meaningful investments in alternative fuels; they go to increase its political influence and to make its activities more difficult to regulate. In the meantime, Big Oil is raping and pillaging the environment to a point where we may have an extinction-level event. Big Oil is thus Earth Enemy #1 and needs to be stopped at all costs.(1)
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(1) And please note, this is coming from a guy, me, that is making a film about how the LEFT is destroying the U.S. with cultural Marxism. Are YOU as non-partisan? See ORIGINAL INTENT at http://www.FiatEmpire.com/producers
20 June 2009
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