Posts Tagged ‘big oil’

January26

Same old problems with new drilling proposal

By: Tyson Slocum

The Obama "Tyson Slocum" "Public Citizen"administration’s announcement today to expand offshore oil drilling is a terrible idea: It won’t lower oil or gas prices, and it puts taxpayers on the hook for accidents.

The last time the president made such an announcement, the BP disaster occurred two weeks later. We all saw how that ended. Obama should not be laying the groundwork for history to repeat itself.

Current law caps accidental spill liability at $75 million, far below what actual spill damages would likely be. This translates into a huge subsidy for the industry and puts the American people on the hook.

Congress has yet to pass reforms in the wake of that disaster – including raising oil companies’ spill liability from the current $75 million cap.

Opening new areas to drilling while failing to hold oil companies accountable for fleecing taxpayers on existing drilling leases is unfair.

Obama should know better than to hold Big Oil’s support above Main Street’s interests.

Tyson Slocum is Public Citizen’s Energy Program director. Follow him on Twitter @TysonSlocum.

Posted in: Activism, Climate Change, Congress, Energy, Environment, Ethics, Regulation, Uncategorized0 comments

June15

End Excessive Oil Speculation Now

By: Robert Weissman

Note: This statement was delivered at a press conference today on Capitol Hill, hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Legal speculation is siphoning money from the pockets and pocketbooks of consumers.

Even Goldman Sachs suggests that legal speculation may be adding 65-70 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline.

Speculators, in other words, are imposing a private tax on us.

This is the worst kind of tax. The proceeds of this Wall Street-imposed tax are going to Wall Street interests, giant oil companies and foreign oil interests. The Wall Street-imposed tax is regressive, with working families hit the hardest. And the unpredictability and impermanence of this Wall Street-imposed tax means that – while it imposes costs on consumers and the economy – it does not do much to shift consumer and investment decisions toward efficiency.

We, the People are not helpless in the face of this legalized rip-off. We can crack down on out-of-control legal speculation with available tools. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act directed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to enact position limits to eliminate excessive speculation. But the CFTC has failed to act.

Now comes Sen. Bernie Sanders’ End Excessive Oil Speculation Now Act to mandate immediate action by the CFTC to end the Wall Street-imposed oil tax. The legislation would end Wall Street’s authority to rip off consumers. Public Citizen strongly supports the End Excessive Oil Speculation Now Act. We need it right now.

Posted in: Congress, Consumer Protection, Energy1 comments

May25

Chevron banks on a profitable political agenda

By: Tyson Slocum

With 43 lobbyists and a federal influence-peddling budget of at least $35 million this past election cycle, Chevron must have an ambitious agenda for the politicians in "True Cost of Chevron"Washington, DC. The company just paid $4.3 billion to acquire Atlas Energy and its extensive holdings in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale so first and foremost on the company’s agenda will be fighting any efforts to have the federal government regulate hydraulic fracturing. Second, Chevron produced 260,000 barrels of oil and natural gas per day from the Gulf of Mexico, so preventing Congress from reforming offshore drilling rules in the wake of the BP disaster will be key. Third, Chevron will join forces with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others to demonize pending Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and continue opposing efforts for the U.S. to lead the way in battling climate change. Fourth, look to Chevron to help lead the chant of “Drill Baby Drill!” as the company seeks to exploit the Presidential race to open new areas to oil and natural gas drilling. Fifth, expect the company to take evasive action against efforts to revoke billions of dollars in oil company tax breaks and royalty relief. Finally, Chevron will probably seek to protect investments overseas from meddlesome foreign government actions on prioritizing the environment and workers’ rights by getting the U.S. to enact favorable trade agreements.

Chevron’s lobbyists are a Who’s Who of former government officials. DC’s rule of thumb: corporations ensure better access to lawmakers when they put their former colleagues from government on their payroll.

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Posted in: Campaign Finance, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Ethics0 comments

May17

Senate gives Big Oil another free pass

By: Tyson Slocum

Tyson SlocumJust what Big Oil needed: another victory. First, Congress fails to pass legislation that would respond to last summer’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Then, President Barack Obama announces that his administration will expand offshore drilling, which means more money for the oil industry.

But now, despite overwhelming public support, the U.S. Senate has failed to pass the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act (S. 940), which would have repealed tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and gas companies over the next decade.

Big Oil is racking up the victories while working families pay the price. Yet again Big Oil defies the odds and gets a minority of lawmakers to support its narrow agenda at the expense of the American public.

The oil industry has killed efforts to be fully liable for the messes it makes in offshore oil spills, and now it holds on to its coveted tax breaks, despite overwhelming evidence that they are no longer needed. What is desperately needed are investments in clean energy to reduce our dependence on oil and deficit reduction. But Big Oil can’t be bothered to be a part of the solution. Instead, the industry uses its money and influence to keep its taxpayer handouts coming.

The big five oil companies – which in the last quarter racked up $36 billion in net profits – will continue to receive taxpayer money because many in the Senate have closer ties to those giant corporations than their own constituents.

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Posted in: Energy1 comments

May12

Big Oil profits are insane, but what they are doing with them is even worse

By: Tyson Slocum

Tyson SlocumBig Oil CEOs testify today before the Senate Committee on Finance to defend the trillion dollars in profits they have made in the past decade thanks to you, the American consumer. Some in Congress will defend the billions of dollars in tax breaks and royalty relief taxpayers give to these same companies each year.

Public Citizen recently crunched the numbers and found that Big Oil’s profits aren’t the only eye-popping statistic – what the industry is spending its money on is equally astonishing.  Big Oil lavishes more on stock buybacks, dividend payments, lobbying and marketing than on U.S. oil investments. Our research shows that since 2005, the largest five oil companies operating in the U.S. spent nearly half a trillion dollars buying back their own stock and paying dividends to shareholders. That’s more money than they spent investing in their U.S. infrastructure.

This contradicts the industry’s insistence that its billions of dollars a year in tax breaks are needed to create jobs and keep gas prices affordable. In fact, Big Oil’s investment decisions are driven by market prices of crude oil, not U.S. tax policy.

It’s time our leaders stop bowing to corporate interests and put an end to the “take the money and run” tactics of Big Oil that are nothing short of highway robbery.

While the speculation-fueled price of oil per barrel has continued to escalate, the underlying costs to produce oil haven’t. Consider this: On average, it costs $20 to produce a barrel of oil. Big Oil sells it to us for more than $100. This generates the massive cash flow that fuels oil companies’ profits and spending.

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Posted in: Energy, Midmorning Refill, Uncategorized1 comments

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