[Mr 5 0]

Unit:

Granted that oil companies set prices (their legal right individually - not their right to do so collectively) and the pump price fluctuations are annoying but if they were all guilty of collective price-fixing they would be prosecuted by politicians more than eager to gain points from voters. Who likes oil companies? No one. Oil companies have been demonized by politicians for decades. Everyone assumes they are thieves, right? Even so, they are never prosecuted after exhaustive politically-inspired investigations, over and over again, every time the gas price jumps noticably. Gotta be a reason. Maybe because they aren't 'fixing' prices?

Your trust in government intervention in the free market is touching but misguided.

The gas price panic of 1973 was precipitated by then-President Nixon's decision to set gas prices, just as you would like to see now. He did. Congress thought this was nifty idea, just as you do and they went along. Result: oil companies saw profits go away, investors screamed, they stopped buying crude (and refining it) and gas became hard to get - at any price. Viola! No gas, panic in the streets. The price controls were lifted. Unfortunately, a knee-jerk reaction from any business when you make it unprofitable to operate by government fiat.

There are few 'big' gas companies because it takes billions to be in the gas and oil business, it's a very unstable business, everybody hates you every time gas prices rise a few cents and no one is volunteering to fund another Mobil Oil, so companies are looking to merge to survive.

There is obviously a lot of misunderstanding about oil company operations and government interference in the market and it's ramifications but I'm getting tired of defending oil companies and I doubt this subject interests many beside a handful of members so I'm bailing out of the discussion and offering the 'last word' to you or whomever wants it.