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Originally Posted by jayeff
Oil company margins are far from the biggest: why should they be expected to exercise social responsibility that - for example - drug companies are not? Come to that, what right do we have to complain about the cost of gas, so long as many of us are driving around with inefficiently designed engines, twice the size they need to be?
Rising gas prices are simply chickens coming home to roost and were it not for our support of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, they would already be much higher. As our influence in the Middle East wanes and assuming the demand from countries like China (in particular) continues to increase, gas prices aren't going anywhere except up.
More refining capacity and even government intervention are possible, although unlikely. In any case we are at the stage now such that any drop in price will be temporary. Like it or not, we are finally going to have to decide our priorities and if handing a major part of our incomes to gas stations isn't up there, we shall either have to reduce our mileage and/or switch to more economical vehicles.
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Agreed there is a larger demand for oil now that the US economic policy is creating millions of jobs in China. However, the margins the US oil companies are making have sky rocketed and will continue to stay very high as long as the administrations family and friends are making huge profits from it.
Don't kid yourself. There is a higher demand for the product but the margins have gone up much more then supply and demand would warrant. Have you read the recently passed energy bill, which creates even more profit for the oil companies. Between the oil companies and the banks that will start foreclosing in vast numbers around 2008, the American people will be owned.
You can start resolving the issue next November.