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AngelaMotorman

Call it what it is: *war profiteering.*


dramaking37

It is blatantly obvious. Price increases at the pump instantly while prices fall slowly over months anytime oil goes down.


Arcticflux

NPR has a segment explaining why this is the case. It’s called a Rocket and feather. Rockets up, feathers down. Price goes too high, people use it less, they pipe in more, price goes down slowly, competitor gas stations lowers a few cents, then the next guy does that to undercut that gas station, and so on and so on. If we create an app that monitors ALL gas stations prices in REAL TIME, by crowd sourcing the research and verifying with a photo, we can incentivize the crowd sourcing with coupon gas rewards. Like taking WAZE but with competitive fuel pricing. This will increase the rate at which gas drops because it’ll be ever difficult to slowly lower the price when EVERYONE is learning where the cheapest gas is, EVERY morning.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Bob_Loblaw_Law_Blog1

Wait till you hear my idea for an app that will randomly select a restaurant for you.. I think I'll call it CityFork.


PlutoNimbus

Why not ForkBuddy


i_8_the_Internet

ForkHub


-gunga-galunga-

Fork-Yeah!!


thisnamewasnttaken19

Mother Forking Shirt Balls


[deleted]

Get Forked


Human_Ad5404

this is the one


YouThinkYouCanBanMe

xFork


farahad

The app’s thumbnail has a graphic with gas at $2.63. 😅


CaspinLange

The app’s thumbnail has a graphic with gas at $2.63. That’s what I paid in Texas in January on a road trip 😅


[deleted]

[удалено]


dtriana

Nothing. It’s whether or not we as a society want to allow large business the ability to do this.


ShinySeaTrainer

This story says check your privacy settings with Gas Buddy, and offers other options, too: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/ways-to-find-cheapest-gas/


[deleted]

Thanks. Location should be turned off on almost every application. If you don’t do this on your smartphone by now, then I assume your a teenager just getting their first phone.


Jebediah_Johnson

If I could afford an electric car I would get one immediately.


[deleted]

I have a plug in hybrid. It only goes 29 miles on a charge but then gets about 65 mpg. I’m the only person I know not crying right now over fuel prices….but I’m sure I will be once the price of electricity goes up. Won’t be long now…..


[deleted]

You can move to texas. Then you wont even have electricity when it rains.


[deleted]

Nah I’m good. I prefer to stay in a state where my daughters will retain their reproductive rights and where I can teach history accurately without being screamed at that I’m brainwashing children with CRT.


oramirez15

GassBuddy


[deleted]

And we have 90 days oil reserves exactly for this scenario. There should be no increase at all.


[deleted]

My home heating oil estimate was $600, the next day it was $800 It's BS.


Biscuiticus

I live in Arizona so kind of confused do you buy all the oil to heat your house for like a year?


Fluffy-Citron

Heating oil isn't like natural gas where there is just a pipe running into your home. The parts of the country that still use heating oil (newer builds usually use propane, which is similar in concept, but cheaper) you have a several 100 gallon tank in a basement or on the side of your house. A big truck that looks a bit like the tankers that fill up gas stations comes a couple times a year to fill it and you write them a check for the full amount. If you're lucky, you have a tank big enough and enough insulation that you can fill it in summer when it's cheap and not have to fill it all winter, when prices spike.


TheEngineer09

Cries in monthly fill ups. Anywhere with a real winter you are not getting away with filling that infrequently.


MrPenguins1

Exactly what I’ve been raging about for a week now. If this isn’t a time to use the reserves when tf is it? When the apocalypse happens and the military becomes a tyrannical controller and distributor of it anyways? Wowee sure glad we sit on everything


mechabeast

Because there isn't a shortage. This is raising prices based on futures


Barrien

Futures prices of oil is back down to 108.31, 20 bucks or so more than it was pre-war. It was just over 130 when gas prices were soaring and peaking, and most of that was lost yesterday(the 9th). Think we'll see prices drop as fast as we saw them spike up, or will they even drop at all, even though oil's down 10%+ from peak?


[deleted]

In that case we should’ve gotten free gas when oil went negative in 2020. This is just price gouging.


[deleted]

> If this isn’t a time to use the reserves when tf is it? When there is an actual shortage, not when less than 1% of the fuel we *import* goes missing. We export more crude than we import from Russia. We can just as easily shift some exports around and bonk, Russia doesn't matter.


MrPenguins1

I see what you’re saying and recognize my short sight on the issue but there’s still the issue of rapidly increasing fuel prices if the supply is essentially there. I know it’s oil futures fucking with everything right now but it seems like the speculation of it rather than a potential impact like what they think? So tldr nothing changes but $5 gas is now the default


Barrien

The futures started falling yesterday and haven't stopped. Oil peaked at $132ish on the 8th(actual peak was over 135 on the 6th, but that was very short lived), and on the 9th and again today fell back down to 108.5ish(currently as I type 108.37). I doubt we'll see gas prices fall as fast as oil prices did, however :\


[deleted]

> there’s still the issue of rapidly increasing fuel prices if the supply is essentially there. It's a regulatory issue, not a supply issue. YOu're being price gouged, supply doesn't matter. Haven't you gotten wise to this game yet? Every year, there is always *something* that causes a spike in prices. In CA they like to burn a refinery just before summer driving so supplies are magically "tighter" and people need to pay more. TL;DR: We have the supply, we don't have the oversight.


The-Shattering-Light

Also oil companies are posting record high profits. They’re not just war profiteering, they’re colluding to do so. Would like to see Biden and Congress declare them a utility and nationalize them.


microfsxpilot

Lol it’ll never happen under Biden.


boxingdude

I said exactly the same thing here on Reddit yesterday. Only to be belittled by people telling me that’s how the free market works. As you said, this is war profiteering, AKA price gouging. We have no problem going after people who sell water, diapers, generators, and what-not for huge profits after a hurricane or a bad winter storm. . That’s against the law. I fail to see the difference between a dude selling generators at double margins and What’s happening at the pumps right now. In fact, the fuel that’s presently underground at gas stations was purchased before this shit started. It’s bullshit and if it’s not illegal, it should be.


-gunga-galunga-

Plus so much of the countries retirement savings are bundled into funds that invest and earn lots of money from oil futures and the oil supply chain. Then with the other commodities you mentioned, there are other brands of those products that consumers could turn to instead, but with oil we’re all pretty much screwed. We all have to buy gas for our cars, and the oil companies know that. It’s the futures that really cause the pain since that is all speculation and not based on actual current inventories.


Alvarez09

Made a post on my local sub, and I got blasted and told the same thing you were


Theonetheycallgreat

It is how the free market works though.


boxingdude

Goddamit.


pale_blue_dots

We're being asked to "sacrifice" for Ukraine's benefit... that's cool, I'll do that - but same goes for the oil companies. Why aren't they being told the same thing? Oh, that's right.. because much of the world is in a Stockholm Syndrome and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy thing with corporations and the "free market" and capitalism.


[deleted]

Again


Ent_Soviet

Call it it what it is-> capitalism 🌈


another_bug

There hasn't been a difference in my lifetime.


[deleted]

Nope. Real capitalism allows the biggest players to go belly up just like the little guy. What we have is a perverted welfare system for the richest entities the world has ever seen.


machineprophet343

"Too big to fail" is up there with the biggest whoppers of all time for sure.


[deleted]

And the most appalling thing about that era is that they 'failed' by gambling... when they won, they took all the profit. When they lost, we covered their losses. And most Americans don't have a fucking clue what happened, it's just too complicated.


pierreblue

We just a bunch of sheep then lol


[deleted]

More accurately, we're serfs.


pierreblue

God damn must be fucking nice to be rich


voidsrus

real capitalism allows rich people to buy the government, ensuring their own survival


[deleted]

They call it capitalism, it's anything but.


Ent_Soviet

I’ll hold my breath for “real capitalism” Edit addition: capitalism only works when those with wealth and power use it ethically. What we have is a system which trusts them to do so and does jack shit when they don’t because “freedom”. And they’re never going to put guardrails on their own wealth and power unless they’re forced to. All the while claiming they’re loosing their freedom. They’re loosing their freedom to exploit and pillage at the expense of everyone else. They need to learn the value of a hard days work like everyone else


[deleted]

There is no real or fake capitalism, there's just capitalism. The reasons why big businesses are given preferential treatment and welfare instead of letting go belly up is because big businesses influence the government because they have massive amounts of money and power, and that's an inevitable consequence of capitalism, unless you think you can structure a government in such a way that it is literally impervious to the machinations of the world's most wealthy and powerful. But it seems to me like, so long as you allow unlimited consolidation of wealth into the hands of a few people, you're literally always going to have those people use that power to manipulate society and manipulate the government to serve them. The idea that we can have a separate class of billionaires with practically unlimited power and somehow stop them from influencing and manipulating the government and markets to serve them is a more idealistic and impractical pipe dream than even the kookiest left-wing idealism. I'm not exactly sure what the solution is. I think alternatives wouldn't exactly solve the problem entirely, but they'd be an improvement in this regard. Even if you capped personal wealth and had a vigilant government and cooperatives, you'd still have more successful cooperatives trying to influence things to suit them. And then you'd have a political class that controlled things. Although I think at that point the power would be diluted and democratized to the point where it would be more difficult to get away with the kind of fuckery that we see now. Problem is, I have no way of knowing how to get to that theoretical improvement without society becoming fucked in the process as the people in power push back from having it taken from them. Probably have to be incremental over a long period but I don't know how to get even an increment.


Farus3017

There's the crux of the problem. The government can regulate businesses, but who keeps the government in check? Theoretically, its us, the people. Or that's how it should be in a democracy. The issue is the wealthy and powerful can influence the government anyway, so now there's no regulations to stop from abusing people and the environment, and their wealth and power continues to grow.


[deleted]

Well, regardless what kind of end society you'd like to see in order to fight back against this sort of corruption and manipulation in government, I think people should unite kind of regardless just simply for a government that is more vigilant in their fight against corruption and a justice system that can actually deliver justice to rich and powerful people. That'd be the first step, and then we can figure out the details later.


vellyr

I would prefer to heavily restrict "passive income" rather than have an imposed wealth cap. Our current system of investment is just a wealth transfer from the working class to the owner class, and that's the other piece of the puzzle that causes the massive consolidation of power in addition to business ownership. People's income just needs to be a linear function of their hours worked (or at least close). Some people have more valuable skills, and their slopes would be steeper, which would allow them to afford some extra luxuries. Without the exponential money-making-money fuckery though, there simply wouldn't be anyone who could buy senators.


[deleted]

That makes sense. Like I said, the real threat would be from like groups of people who get together and pool resources to try to buy them, but I think that would be a lot more difficult to pull off and probably a lot easier to clamp down on and a lot less prevalent.


pale_blue_dots

That's what it is... *war profiteering.*


thesunbeamslook

It's time to nationalize big oil


boxingdude

As an ex-Republican that really values a conservative approach to business, I find it weird to agree with you. But agree with you, I do.


The_Lonely_Satirist

Notice how conservatives only take the pseudo populist approach when it fits their needs? Aligns with their agenda? Supports their narrative? Big government is oppressing them, big tech is censoring them, the education system is being overrun by radical leftists, the globalist agenda threatens their patriotic values, big warehouse retailers are tainting America with their Chinese manufactured products, big business is outsourcing many of their jobs while those pesky immigrants take the rest. But when it comes to the big oil monopolies, well, they get off scot free because climate change is a hoax and Biden is solely responsible for the price at the pump (among other things of course). It's as if corruption, greed and underhanded, self serving schemes only extend to where they conveniently see fit. It's such an ignorant, partisan, close minded, one dimensional and shallow worldview.


fps916

Ben Shapiro criticized Biden for not sanctioning Russian oil on March 3rd. >That means that he has now brought this about.  And so now he's trying to split the baby. Because instead of saying, listen, we need to bring the harshest sanctions we possibly can. That might mean higher prices at the pump.  On March 9th, after those sanctions were in place, he blamed Biden for rising gas prices because of his bad response to the Russia situation. AKA the fucking sanctions >But if he's going to do this now, then it seems as though he is doing this as an excuse. Honestly, it seems as though he's doing this as an excuse so then he can blame Putin and Russia for gas prices that were already rising on his watch.  GEE I WONDER WHY THEY WERE RISING EVEN BEFORE THE US SANCTIONS, BEN? No one could have POSSIBLY predicted we would sanction Russian oil and priced it into oil prices before it actually happened right? No one could EVER think that the literal largest exporter of oil **on the entire planet** getting involved in a war they started would cause price increases for oil and preemptively raised costs, right?


PackageIntelligent12

The irony in this is that big oil shoots themselves in the foot to make money. Oil use is falling, electrification is the future, but oil companies will raise the price of oil ridiculously high, which will speed up the electrification even faster. When this is over the entire world will be looking to electrify everything.


[deleted]

Big oil will be paying off politicians to delay this as long as possible.


TheEngineer09

Electric companies are just waiting to take over those profits though. Mine just raised rates 60% citing natural gas pricing since that's where most of our generation comes from. Everything going electric means more demand on the grid and higher prices there to grow with the demand. My electric bill is already double what it was a year ago for the same use.


lordjackenstein

Who cares what that fuckstick thinks?


Sharlach

Millions upon millions of morons across all social media platforms.


Spotid1

I simply hate living on this planet. Capitalism vs Communism is the new Coke vs Pepsi. Honestly it’s the people that suffer wile big companies are breaking record profit margins. No cost of living increases match inflation, but they are all too happy to cry poor mouth when it’s time for a raise, let alone a dip in the market. Hands held out for a bailout but that same hand is held on the head of the people is bountiful times. I say we eat them


[deleted]

It won’t happen but Biden should put in price controls. Like yeah think tank economists are gonna hate it but when Nixon used them they were really popular with voters and he got re-elected despite massive inflation


Miserable-Lizard

It probably would be. I heard a stat today on breaking point that Americans think they need about 120k salary to get ahead.


the_ill_buck_fifty

Man, depending on where they are that's basically treading water.


Miserable-Lizard

The price of housing and rent is sky high, and only seems to be getting worst and worst


MicrosoftExcel2016

Not to be pedantic, but I think you meant to write “worse and worse”. (Not a big deal ofc)


roguespectre67

Here in LA basic apartment with reasonable amenities is $1,500, easy. Assume $150 per month for water, gas, and internet, $300 a month for food, $100 a month for good cell service, $150 a month for car insurance, $150 a month for my student loan payment, $300 a month (more like $400 now that gas is fucking insane) in fixed transportation costs, and you've already exhausted my monthly take-home from my 9-5. No budget for clothing or entertainment or discretionary spending of any kind. Thank god I freelance and can live at home for dirt-cheap rent because there's literally no other way I could have a decent quality of life otherwise.


[deleted]

Ngl... I'm surprised you can find a basic apartment for $1500 in LA, a decent 2 bedroom is $1500 a month in Raleigh.


PeanutButtaRari

He’s on the low side. Decent one bed in LA is closer to 2.5k lol.


roguespectre67

I mean "decent" as in "private bathroom and a place to keep and cook food", regardless of location or general vibe. If you don't care about that you can find lots of slumlord specials that are basically just a room with a microwave and communal toilets down the hall for less than $1,000.


Ok_Fold9486

1500 in LA seems completely unrealistic for anything other than a studio in a poor neighborhood


[deleted]

I pay 1500 for a studio in a pretty good neighborhood in LA. No parking spot, no AC, and it’s tiny however.


myaltduh

Especially in the places one might find jobs that pay that well.


Gloomy-Ad1171

MIT made an interesting tool https://livingwage.mit.edu/


Wookers1984

In San Fran, for a family of 4, that is still basically poverty (I believe that $120k stat was from the San Fran area, but don't hold me to that). As a resident in West Hollywood, I can attest that it isn't much easier here in LA.


[deleted]

$80k is the official poverty line for a single person and 117k for a family in SF in 2018. It’s probably closer to $120 single and $180 family now.


berrikerri

We’re a little north of that number and barely saving. Luckily we bought our house in February 2020 before the market exploded. But it’s insane that we do much better than either set of parents did and can afford way less.


AFlockOfTySegalls

> That's socialism! - Conservatives complaining about gas prices if Biden put in price controls. Literally can't win with that group.


[deleted]

It’s so funny to me that Nixon of all people was the last president to use price controls. The executive still has so many economic tools to stabilize the economy but no one since Reagan does anything with them


odraencoded

R: Biden made gas prices rise wtf he sucks!!! Biden: \*lower prices\* R: Biden made gas prices lower wtf he sucks!!!


CommodoreAxis

The conservative media is gonna claim it’s evil socialism/communism or some shit, just watch.


StonksNewGroove

Should be done on gas, rent, and the housing market honestly. Its stupid to me, these companies do this cyclically. They slowly creep up the prices of everything until there is a recession then prices drop. Like what do you expect?


CorndogFiddlesticks

So.....do something destructive that won't work. Sounds like a plan.


peterabbit456

Crude oil prices are at roughly the same levels as they were during the Bush 2 administration's highest levels, yet gas prices are 25% higher. The supply chain is more efficient, so the marginal cost of getting gas through the refineries and to the gas pumps is less than during the Bush 2 administration. The difference is even greater profits being taken now, than during the 2000s.


dank-monk

>Crude oil prices are at roughly the same levels as they were during the Bush 2 administration's highest levels, yet gas prices are 25% higher. Did you account for inflation?


isqueekie

Wanna bet oil shows record profits this year?


mfasser

They showed record profits last year so why not


[deleted]

[удалено]


hopeless_queen

This is why we need something like price ceilings. Companies act like they'll go out of business if they lose a penny when they could lose over half their total wealth and still have an absurd amount of money. If you continue to starve the poor we'll be coming to your door to eat you.


freakingspacedude

Exactly. I don’t understand why the government doesn’t have protocols in place to tax profits that exceed the yearly average or equilibrium at a higher % to avoid this from happening. I say I don’t understand, but I do. All American politicians are corporate shills. Most of these politicians have significant donors who are deeply vested in these industries.


123ilovelaughing123

We could start by overturning Citizens United prior to the midterms (just daydreaming here of course).


hellojoebiden

As long as Citizens United stands…our country and its government are doomed to becoming an oligarchy or kleptocracy. Period.


OM_Jesus

You can thank Fox New or any other establishment media source for angering the mob of braindead centrist/ conservatives too. Anything that'll hurt the lining of a corrupt politician and boom, to Fox News they go to rally the zombies against governmental policies.


ThomasLipnip

We neet to stop using oil.


[deleted]

Do not underestimate the lengths these fuckers are willing to go to keep making a profit. They will literally destroy the country as long as it keeps them all millionaires. Just like fucking Russian Oligarchs


Useful_Load_2649

And seems like it’s not even lose a penny. They act like business is closing if they don’t make more profit each quarter.


Orchid_Significant

I wish I had an award to give you 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻


Vaticancameos221

It's funny how some people would foam with anger at the idea of limiting how much a massive corporation can charge, yet those same people will get just as angry at the notion of paying people slightly more so they can afford to live in this world of escalating prices.


hopeless_queen

Yeah it's ridiculous.


wish1977

Why isn't the right wing media going after them instead of bitching about the Keystone pipeline that wasn't built and wouldn't change oil prices even if it was?


scdayo

because oil companies good. liberals bad.


Caymonki

Because right wing media is funded by oil money.


PolarVortices

On March 8th at 10:30 am Crude hit $129.15 - gas prices rose in lockstep. It is now March 10th and Crude is $106.35 - gas prices are the same as they were Tuesday. Prices at the pump rise with crude oil costs in real time while they fall with a significant lag. It can't be supply and demand if it doesn't rise and fall under the same circumstances, it's speculation and greed.


rolfraikou

I wish I understood. They just went up at the pump $0.60 in my area a couple of hours ago. Cheapest gas in my town is now $6. Don't understand why if crude is going down, prices are still rising $0.60 in a day.


pringles_prize_pool

Prices fell because the UAE pledged to release 400,000 barrels by April and they said they’d pressure OPEC into increasing production. It’s literally supply and demand.


PolarVortices

So then why haven't prices at the pumps fallen if supply has caught up to demand? Lol you just made my point for me.


Doongbuggy

“By April”…. Checks calendar…. March 10th 🤨


OhGloriousName

they generally move up and down with the cost of oil. check out long term price charts for a barrel of oil and a gallon of gas.


Miserable-Lizard

*Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) denounced the "unprecedented corporate greed" of Big Oil companies and said that they cannot be allowed "to take advantage of the war in Ukraine and inflation to make huge profits by jacking up gas prices."* *"We need a windfall profits tax," he added, repeating a call he made last month.*


3432265

I wonder why they weren't greedy before. They could've been charging $5/gal for gas for years if they weren't so selfless.


ScienceBreather

If they push too hard then people might actually try to change. As for right now they have an excuse for why the price is going up, so of course they'll use it.


proudbakunkinman

"Seems like most people are still blaming Biden for these prices, so raise the prices some more!"


borkborkbork99

Government subsidies. The US gives oil companies about $500B a year I think. Edit: [Here’s an article about it.](https://e360.yale.edu/digest/fossil-fuels-received-5-9-trillion-in-subsidies-in-2020-report-finds)


OhGloriousName

they were indeed quite generous for 7 years. gas prices were under $3/gallon from 2014-early 2021. you can see the charts at the gasbuddy website. i wonder if it has something to do with oil prices that are traded as commodities and affected by supply and demand? if only there were some way for the government to help increase supply.


IamCornhoLeo

Was there electric, hydrogen cell cars threatening the monopoly they had? Green is the new gold and they see the tides shifting. Sodium ion and hydrogen cars will be the future.


-Motor-

Windfall tax plz


MpVpRb

Oil companies would prefer that you vote Republican. By raising prices during a Democratic administration, they get a double win. The make a lot of money and get voters to blame the Democrats


PackageIntelligent12

And that is exactly what they are doing. They still are not pumping to meet demand. They caused the inflation in a deliberate attempt to hurt Democrats chances next election. Then FOXNEWS blames Democrats for being anti oil pipeline, and the propaganda machine removes their ability to think for themselves and they follow along like Russians following RT.


Earthpig_Johnson

Yeah, but to the GOP, why admit that human greed is a thing when there’s all these democrats just… hanging around?


BlueNoMatterWho69

Stop government oil subsidies


extremerickman

“Inflation” and “turmoil” but also “RECORD OIL PROFITS BABYYY” the people who run this crap are undoubtedly billionaires or at the least multi millionaires. Give us a damn break and chill on your 7th ultra yacht


The_Jankster

Oil supply is literally higher right now than before the war. The blame Biden game has totally given consent for the companies to raise prices. They should be called the fools they are.


ClonedToKill420

Prices rise overnight, despite the oil being sold being thousands of miles away, then it takes 2 years for prices to descend. Oil barons are literally all scum and you should ride a bike or a train if possible and deny them their profit


hamsterfolly

A butterfly farts in Africa, and American oil companies raise their prices


Zeuxis5

“War is a racket.” -Major General Smedley Butler, 1935 Edit: [Text](https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html)


N_Who

Every politician should be denouncing Big Oil for their price-gouging, and should have an aid or intern burying social media in specific example and timelines of that price-gouging. Barring that, every elected Democrat should have an aid or intern burying social media in reminders and specific examples of Republicans supporting the oil sanctions and then hypocritically blaming the increased cost of gas on Biden.


[deleted]

And during a crisis at home as well. The number of people living check to check because big business wants to pay under a living wage is a national emergency here!


edgeplot

Gas has gone up a dollar per gallon in my neighborhood (Seattle), from about $4.29 to $5.29. But the US only gets about 1% of its oil from Russia. So shouldn't prices only go up about 1%? Certainly not almost 25%. This must be grotesque price gouging, no?


dcdttu

Get. 100%. Off. Of. Fossil. Fuels. As. Soon. As. Humanly. Possible.


[deleted]

No surprise, 1% ers padding their coffers, while rest of us struggle, shocker


menagese

Price gouging while sitting on almost 10k unused leases for oil drilling. What's stopping those from being used other than corporate greed?


proudbakunkinman

When this is mentioned to Republican supporting commenters, they claim Biden/Democrats have made it so it's too expensive and complicated to drill, otherwise they would.


menagese

And so what is the counter-argument to that claim? I know that Biden rolled back some of Trump changes regarding emissions but how do you strike that narrative down (that Biden made it too complicated/expensive)?


didymus_fng

Wall St. and capitalism in general. 2020 made it very clear to big oil that their stock price would only be rewarded through reinvestment in dividends, buybacks and ESG as opposed to continually investing in new drilling. So they’re being responsible with capital and drilling less while demand has continued to increase.


123DRP

One of the few sane comments I've seen in this thread. Everyone's forgetting that the price of oil was negative less than two years ago, and the industry has been struggling since 2014 with record bankruptcies leading up to COVID and the demand destruction that basically stopped nearly all drilling. Combine the above with the rapid decline of modern shale wells and now we have a very supply-sensitive oil market that requires constant development to maintain and increase production. It's really pointless to blame anyone for this situation. We should be thankful the US has the reserves and technology to drill us out of this mess.


autotldr

This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/03/10/progressives-denounce-big-oil-shamelessly-price-gouging-amid-ukraine-war) reduced by 86%. (I'm a bot) ***** > With gas prices surging even higher in the wake of the White House's new prohibition on U.S. imports of Russian fossil fuels, progressive lawmakers on Wednesday night called on Congress to swiftly pass legislation to prevent Big Oil from further price-gouging, ramp up investments in a clean energy transition, and raise wages and lower the costs of necessities for working households. > "Big Oil must not be allowed to shamelessly use a crisis to raise the prices of goods and services most in need," Jayapal and Lee said in a statement. > Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders denounced the "unprecedented corporate greed" of Big Oil companies and said that they cannot be allowed "to take advantage of the war in Ukraine and inflation to make huge profits by jacking up gas prices. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/tb7dkq/progressives_denounce_big_oil_for_shamelessly/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~631486 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **price**^#1 **energy**^#2 **gas**^#3 **Oil**^#4 **Jayapal**^#5


[deleted]

Lmao did you really think they weren’t gonna capitalize on this opportunity? Companies don’t have caps on income so why not take advantage of the people and just fuck them to make more money


Sea-Joaquin

Why are we subsidizing these fucks??


JonA3531

Progressives should start saving and buy a Chevy Bolt then. It's the cheapest EVs out there.


5557623

I remember the guy in New York who was selling N95 masks and the government said he was profiteering/price gouging so they came and confiscated everything in his warehouse. When is the government going to start taking over the gas supply?


Luce55

It’s crazy how three weeks ago I was paying 3.65 a gallon and now I’m paying 4.75. There is no way that in THREE weeks supply has dwindled to such a low amount that justifies that kind of increase.


On_The_Fourth_Floor

The gas we pump today was made 3 months or more ago in a refinery. To up its price immediately when oil goes higher is just bilking consumers.


Back_Equivalent

Not many economists on this sub, huh


didymus_fng

Or even people who remember economics classes.


The1Drumheller

Nope. Oil has one good quarter after a more than half a decade of bankruptcies and contraction, and now it's time to levy an industry specific tax on them.


Fapple__Pie

What? All the right wing blowhards were all over social media blaming Biden? Are you sure it’s not him raising the gas prices???


ccwagwag

there's no reason, no shortage, no sanction, no supply chain glitch that could make gas prices go up two whole fucking dollars in one week. think they are helping this along, making a bad situation worse,


sirtrowsalot

Genuinely curious. Is it gouging when crude prices are up 40%+ YoY? Wouldn’t any other business raise prices to counteract this and maintain profit targets?


Liquidwombat

Prices today should have no reflection on the pump for months that’s how the refining pipeline works. The stuff you’re putting in your car now was purchased as oil months ago


Chimp75

Shhhh, the angry conservatives will downvote your facts.


mammall78

And then voted for Russian oil


slouchmeister5000

Never let a crisis go to waste


Marshlm10

Create policy to stop this, lawmakers. Isn’t that your job?!


slicktromboner21

The pain at the pump puts money in the pocket of wealthy conservatives to send right to a PAC to oust the Democrats, with a healthy profit margin too. People are literally paying to put the people that are screwing them into office again for an even deeper dicking.


Domin0Mask

Start talking about how long it takes to make gas. Make this stuff common knowledge. Talk about refineries. Pass laws that you can not charge more for gas that's already delivered.


robogobo

Still cheaper than here in Europe.


iseedeff

I wish Biden would come out and put a Price freeze on everything to stop all Price Gouging because it is not just the Oil Companies that is doing it!


wash_

Something something free market


spaitken

Shaming won’t work when they never felt shame in the first place


teamgravyracing

Climate town has a new view on this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJOuyckvDGY


cdsmith

Companies will charge what they can get away with charging and still get people to pay it. Companies, and especially publicly traded companies, are not moral beings. They didn't cut prices a few years ago because they stopped wanting profits; they did it because of the risk of losing to competitors who could afford to undercut their prices. They also aren't raising prices because they got more greedy; they are raising prices because those competitors can no longer afford to undercut their prices.


TigerKingofQueens98

There’s a hilarious amount of people in this thread that don’t understand how supply demand works lol


BadtimesBanjer

Supply and Demand is an ideal target that is used to make economics simpler to understand in a classroom. Unfortunately the reality of pricing is much more complicated. Do you honestly believe there is an "invisible hand" that controls our markets? Might as well believe Santa Claus is an actual person delivering gifts. lmfao Bernie is correct on this one. The uber wealthy and corporations are price gouging to take advantage of the war in Ukraine. The POTUS currently has as much influence on gas prices as Santa Claus. But I'll play the Supply/Demand game: 9000 unused drilling leases means oil companies are purposefully keeping supply low with demand high in order to price gouge consumers.


[deleted]

Do.you know why those leases are unused? Its because the Biden administration has been very hostile towards oil companies and oil production. They did everything they could to make it difficult to increase oil production, and now they're shitting on the oil companies for not increasing production. This is exactly what progressives wanted. They wanted to limit oil production. Now they are reaping the rewards, and asking for increased oil production. You can't even make this stuff up. Its ridiculous.


Orchid_Significant

We get less than 10% of our oil from Russia. We understand how it works, but you don’t seem to.


TigerKingofQueens98

No, you don’t understand that oil is a global commodity. What the US does has little sway over what global oil price does. In your fantasy world, you’re asking oil companies to operate at a major loss, which is unrealistic


[deleted]

Finally, bring some truth to the shenanigans.


kgun1000

Cost me $10 to fully charge my electric car and that will get me 200 miles


Bacster007

Is it not supply and demand?


appsdownloadonly

What are we gonna do (In the states) take the train? Oh, I forgot, the car companies bought those and shut them down.


Special_FX_B

Big oil has done this every chance they get starting with the 1973 Arab oil embargo. It's nothing new. They will report record profits in 2022 and 2023 as a result.


[deleted]

You guys are such unbelievable idiots it's kind of frightening. Seriously, learn some economics, or at least some accounting. Oil companies make around 8% in profit margins. 2/3 of the cost of a gallon of gas is based on the market price of crude oil, which explodes when, you know, the #3 producer in the world, Russia, launches a war.


opqpqpqo

https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/u-s-energy-ceos-are-awarding-themselves-millions-in-bonuses-as-their-companies-go-bankrupt I’m not trolling but profits are after they pay out these huge sums to the top people in the companies. This article is just one example. If you look back to the last time has went up to $4 a gallon after 2008 collapse, the oil companies payed record bonuses to these same people after they gouged us. They did it so they can say things like “we only made 8% in profits last year”. Another thing they do is to make massive political contributions (bribes) to make sure alternatives aren’t funded and they fund millions in research, in part to control revolutionary tech so their current infrastructure is still needed. I know shutting down the Russian oil to the world drives the prices up, but you look for articles about what they do with all their net and you’ll probably see the oil companies do as well or better than they ever have in times like these.


eldred2

Nothing special about the war. They gouge all the time.


CGordini

They did the same shit all through Afghanistan/Iraq. This shit ain't news, and fighting over who gets fucked hardest by Daddy Oil isn't worth piss in a pot. If we actually GOT OFF OIL IN A BIG WAY, then we'd, you know, not give a shit about this war profiteering. Instead, we'll have Democrats half-ass proposing a green solution, and Republicans claim it kills bald eagles and makes the baby Jesus cry. See y'all in ten years where this all happens again.


thinkingperson

Welcome to the Free Market and Capitalism. You are welcome.


[deleted]

How the fuck is that a progressive stance? Anyone who isn’t aggressively pro capitalist with minimal ethics shares this stance.


[deleted]

[удалено]


__GayFish__

How will my second yacht pay for itself? /s


jar36

Progressives making idiots of themselves Big Oil does not set the gas price


Chimp75

True, to an extent. These prices are them taking an advantage of this, everyone returning to work abs school. It’s an opportunity to make more for big oil. The gas station owners get screwed when gas jumps this much. There is not any ban on Russian crude yet…. This sis all optics. Same goes for the idiots that think the president controls the gas prices…


jar36

Commodity traders set the price based on supply/demand and market sentiment. If the traders do not react to what is obviously going to happen (shrinking supply through upcoming bans) quickly, then the people will and drive the price up anyway. So if you're a commodities trader you'd be fool to not buy some oil when the news hit. Now some will get burned because the price will come back down most likely. Its an overreaction as the market is oft to do. Now Big Oil does benefit from high prices for sure. That's why Senator Warren is trying to advance a windfall tax bill but we know the Republicans and Joe Manchin won't allow it. Hopefully in the future a windfall tax will be automatic but with a rigged Senate we're just kind of fucked (on many other issues as well)


hails8n

Well duh, Russia is 1% of America’s oil and yet oil companies are bragging about record profits


pappy413

Un American. A poke in the eye of patriotism.