California gasoline prices are still soaring, even as the rest of the nation sees falling pump prices. The reason is simple: Refiners control the supply.
Thu, Mar 29, 2012
“Gas Pain” At Pump and Smokestack
Posted by Judy Dugan
This California license plate, “Gas Pain,” might be the sly joke of a gastroenterologist, but it’s not on a Mercedes. So let’s stipulate that it means pain at the pump, with a gallon of regular gas stuck for months at around $4.40. This kind of price is as usual fueled by investor speculation and an [...]
Tue, Jan 3, 2012
Ohio’s Earthquake: Top 10 New Ways to Use Toxic Gas-Drilling Waste
Posted by Judy Dugan
Ohio has shut down the natural gas drilling wastewater disposal well that triggers earthquakes. Politicians are finally reacting to drinking water contamination, too. We need new disposal methods for the salty, toxic waste and ways to hold oil companies accountable. Here are 10 great ways to do both!
Tue, Jan 3, 2012
2012: Few Jobs, But Gobs of Profit for Oil
Posted by Judy Dugan
The reviled “jobless recovery” of the U.S. economy won’t improve much in 2012, say the usual forecasters. But oil company executives and market speculators can break out the champagne now as the price of crude oil starts the year with a huge jump. It’s not about Iranian threats or rising demand, it’s about speculative profits.
Wed, Nov 9, 2011
BP Lies Down With Russia, Gets Up With Fleas
British oil giant BP would like us all to forget its record oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, a deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas City oil refinery and a major Alaskan oil spill in between–all of them the result of a company that cared more about the bottom line than about [...]
Fri, Oct 14, 2011
Wall Street Oil Speculators Hurt Families, U.S. Economy
OilWatchdog and other critics of commodity speculation have long said that rampant speculation in oil futures markets has hurt families, cost jobs and kept the U.S. economy teetering on the edge of recession. Energy analyst Marc Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, in a nailed-down new study. finds that speculators are adding about $600 to [...]
Wed, Oct 5, 2011
Fracking and Yakking
Posted by Judy Dugan
Exxon Mobil, which is making big bets worldwide on hydraulic fracturing for deeply buried natural gas, is also making big bets on its sincere, earnest advertising about clean, safe natural gas. The ads turn me into a crazy person, yelling at the television during halftimes and seventh-inning stretches. Their claim that they ensure compliance with all “applicable [...]
Tue, Sep 20, 2011
Take Action on Gas Prices
Here’s a petition from our ally Public Citizen, calling on federal regulators to quit stalling and rein in the financial speculators who are jacking up gasoline prices. It’s well worth the few seconds to click on the link and sign the petition. Fight back against Goldman Sachs and the other big banks whose speculation costs [...]
Wed, Sep 14, 2011
Chevron Oil Leak in Gulf of Mexico?
Hard to interpret the technical language in this early Reuters report, but not good that Chevron refused to comment. When the screwup is not an explosion in view of the world, it’s all too easy to delay, downplay and diminish what’s going on. Maybe it’ll turn out to be minimal. Or not. However, it’s all [...]
Wed, Aug 31, 2011
Report on Gas Blast Sounds Too Familiar
Posted by Judy Dugan
A deadly brew of corporate carelessness and failed regulation caused the natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight residents in a quiet neighborhood of San Bruno, CA., says a long-awaited report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The harsh conclusions and strong language echo a similar report on the causes of a 2005 refinery explosion that killed 15 workers [...]
Wed, Aug 10, 2011
Why Is Gasoline Price Staying High?
Posted by Judy Dugan
The old adage about gasoline prices, “up like a rocket, down like a feather,” has never been so true. The price of crude oil in recent days has been down near $80 a barrel, translating to about $1.92 a gallon. But the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline, according to AAA, is [...]
Wed, Aug 3, 2011
Natural Gas Drillers: ‘We Don’t Need Your Stinking Air Rules’
Posted by Judy Dugan
Whenever regulators try to clean up our air or water, industry issues its standard “job killer” press release. Let your children keep their asthma and we won’t shut down our (oil, gas, coal) (refinery, drilling facility, surface mine), is the general theme. No surprise, then, that a coalition of deep-well natural gas drillers responded sternly [...]
Wed, Jul 27, 2011
Oil Will Grease a Debt-Limit Recession
Posted by Judy Dugan
If the U.S. ends the coming weekend without national debt limit deal, it won’t just be bond defaults sending the nation back into a deep, ugly recession. A hint came Tuesday as the price of oil rose a little, nearing $100 a barrel once again even as stocks did a mini-tank, with the Dow down [...]
- "Gas Pain" At Pump and Smokestack
- Study: Texas-Based Valero Gouging California Drivers For A Decade
- Why Is Gasoline Price Staying High?
- Taking on Koch Industries in Times Sq.
- Absolute Gasoline Price Record in 2011?
- Earl Richards: The oil corporations are similiar to a public util...
- panamalaw: Thanks for every other informative blog. Where el...
- Online Romance: I'm so very much happy for this cool blog article....
- Rob: I was not addressing speculation. I was addressing...
- Judy Dugan: Here is an authoritative study by Houston's James ...
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Tue, May 15, 2012
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