[ RadSafe ] Oh dear! Nostalgic return of LOBA vs nuclear power forelectricity

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

There are several points to ponder about the below point to ponder:

(1) It is entirely true that most of the world's oil reserves are owned
by some government or another.  That is even true in the US.  In many
cases, however, the governments, or rather the people who control the
government, run their country's oil reserves as a money making operation
(who gets the money is left as an exercise to the reader), and are every
bit as capable of greediness as a privately held organizations.

(2) There is something of a bait and switch in in the below quote, as
(a) oil companies often have a great deal of influence on the
governments that control the oil reserves and (b) the ownership of the
reserve is only a part of the picture of how much gasoline at the pump
costs.  For the US market the vast majority of the oil is refined in the
US, in facilities owned and operated by "oil companies".  The deeds of
greed most people complain about is when the price of what comes out
seems disconnected from the cost of what goes in.

(3) The oil companies like to claim to be helpless victims of the Free
Market, having to raise prices as demand goes up (that's just the way
the market works), then having to raise prices again when demand goes
down (we have to maintain our profitability).  The choose not to
acknowledge that the oil market is not free at any point, and hasn't
been for 100 years.

(4) As to who complains loudest about the "greedy" oil companies; boy,
there's a crowded field with top contenders.  People whose government
officials are pocketing the money instead of using it to benefit the
country, people whose livelihoods or lifestyles are threatened by rising
prices, people who have felt the effects of oil companies'
anti-competitive actions, or politicians claiming to represent any of
the above.  Lots to choose from.  And I have a question about this
"Second question":  What does it matter?  Even if those who "complain
the loudest" are not pure as the driven snow that does not remove the
oil stains from the hands and hearts and souls of those who control the
industry. 

"Point to Ponder......We hear constantly that the greedy oil companies
are responsible for this price of gasoline and oil overall. I have a
question. How much of the world's oil reserves at the well head are
privately owned? The correct answer is 10%. The remaining 90% is owned
by some government enterprise. The oil companies, being owned by human
beings, are bound to have committed some unseeming form or greediness in
their history, but when you only own 10% of a commodity you are not the
one making the rules. In this case they are not setting the prices. 
Second question. Who complains the loudest about the "greedy" oil
companies? I will leave you to answer that for yourselves.
Rich Kozlovich ElKoz at juno.com"

...end quote
And a Happy Thanksgiving to All ...
Maury&Dog
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