It's Simple Oil-Company Greed

It's Simple Oil-Company Greed

Tools

Story Published: May 11, 2004 at 1:42 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:28 AM PDT

By Ken Schram

SEATTLE - I don't care what the oil analysts say.

I care less about what they pay for gas over in Europe, or how many SUVs are on the road.

I have a simple answer to the complicated question of why gas prices are so high: oil company greed.

It's NOT about prices adjusted for inflation; NOT about what OPEC is charging for a barrel of crude.

It's about a monopolistic cartel of U.S. oil companies that control much of the production, and virtually all of the refining, distribution and marketing or petroleum products.

With oil industry mergers over the past decade, it's been much easier to control prices at the pump.

And by control, I mean increase; increase to the point where oil company profits are in the stratosphere.

We're being had and we need to do something.

We've talked about boycotts.

That didn't work.

We've talked about only buying gas on certain days of the week.

That didn't work.

What will work?

Government regulation?

Richard Nixon-style price controls?

Should Congress intervene?

You tell me and we'll go from there.

Either that or we just sit back, shut up and continue being screwed.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

Weather & Traffic

Icon
Current Temp 72.0 °F
Partly Cloudy
More Weather

Weather & Traffic

More Weather

On Demand

Resources and info you need to prepare for the switch to DTV.

Stay Connected

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Marketplace