Are oil companies really to blame for this soaring oil prices?

These companies just set the prices according to the economic situation. Or should we blame Oil producing countries also.Are oil companies really to blame for this soaring oil prices?
The whole system...OPEC on down to Exxon... all-time record profits for any company ever are EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS... regardless of the situation... and it usually points to violations of anti-trust laws... is there one... I don't know... but it's suspicious...Are oil companies really to blame for this soaring oil prices?
Oil companies makes 9 cents per gallong of gas - hardly outrageous. Uncle Sam takes 18.4 cents per gallon of gas. From EVERY oil company - not just Mobil-Exxon.





You tell me who the thief is. Report Abuse

presidentofallantarctica really has the best solution. America's refining capacity has been greatly reduced - by about half - since the 1970s because environmentalist wackos keep blocking the construction of new refineries.





Interestingly, the aforementioned environmentalist wackos have convinced the Democrats that drilling our own oil is the worst possible thing we can do.





* The LARGEST OIL RESERVE in North America sits underneath Alaskan soil in the ANWR Preserve - but the Democrats keep blocking the drilling of it. WHY??





* Plenty of oil lies underneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico - but the Democrats keep blocking the drilling of it. WHY?? Americans cannot drill for it. Meanwhile, Mexico is making mad money drilling Gulf of Mexico oil, and Fidel Castro is drilling oil 45 MILES from the coast of Florida.





So, all of you who blame Bush need to remember the two bullets above. Don't complain about Bush - complain about your elected Democrat leaders who refuse to let Americans get American oil.





EDIT: gpel - So your solution is what? Ignore the plentiful resources we have and rely on OPEC? And you wonder why you guys lost control of the Congress, the Supreme Court AND the Presidency???





Come on, we all know that fossil fuels are not a viable long term solution. That is why there are companies and scientists working on alternative fuels right now ... many projects sponsored by the military and the federal government. But to bring them to the point that they are viable for mass use is years off.





In the meantime, use of our OWN fossil fuel supplies makes perfect sense in the short term. Don't be one of the hypocrites that blames the President for gas prices in one breath - President Bush can no more set gas prices than he can set prices for airline tickets - and one who cries out to block American drilling of American oil in the next.
It is our energy policy, when it came time to make one Bush called in the executives of big oil and they set policy. It is like the fox being in charge of the hen house.
The CEO of Exxon makes $114,000 a day. That's just one guys salary. They can't be hurting if their execs make that much.
Hey army man, what are you going to do when Alaska runs out. Nice plan.





What we need to do is find a different and cheap means of energy.





This will not happen in time.





Sadly, we will all die and don't bother having kids, they will live the most stressful lives in history.
Not enough refinery capacity is more likely. There's an article on Yahoo News right now concerning OPEC. They claim the supply is healthy. I'd much rather believe them than the Republicans or the oil companies.
The oil companies should take some of their hefty profits and invest in more refinement capacity. Unless they know something we don't. Maybe they're saving their money to do an extreme makeover on our energy infrastructure in a few years, switch over to Hydrogen or something.
we need to blame US%26amp;A for this !!
Everyone wants to maximize their own profits, whether it's from the highest-paying job or selling oil at the highest possible price. In general, lower prices mean more purchasers and higher prices mean fewer purchasers. With the current level of oil being produced, this is the highest price people are willing to pay.





There are really only two ways to reduce the price of oil: increase the supply or reduce the demand. Governments and their related groups (like OPEC) make it very difficult to increase supply. Enormous amounts of oil could be tapped right now in the US, but environmental regulations won't allow it or make it too expensive. OPEC sets limits on what the member countries can produce, in order to maximize the price. (Everyone cheats a bit, but not as much as they could.) There are many of politicians who, when oil was cheap, said we should increase taxes for the very purpose of pushing the price up to reduce demand. They must be very happy right now, except the money is lining someone else's pockets.





In short, politicians (and the people who vote for them) are partly to blame for soaring oil prices, but the currently-established oil companies are probably not complaining. The other part of the ';blame'; rests on the shoulders of the people who buy oil products.
They are only partially to blame. The real problem is that the world is running out of oil.