Is there anything wrong with oil companies?

Question

The more i think about it the more i don't think there is.

great job james33- you allmost got the points.

Answer 1

Oil companies are the same as any other company... actually we should love oil companies... afterall they do a lot for us, for cheap!

To quote my favorite television journalist, John Stossel:

...[consider] what it takes to get gas here: It’s got to be dug out of the ground from 5 miles beneath the earth (the drills even bend to get to it) and then it gets shipped across an ocean, refined into three types of gasoline, put in trucks that cost $100,000 each, shipped to stations that have all this expensive equipment so you don’t blow yourself up and it still costs less than the bottled water they sell at these gas stations.[1]

nostradamus02012 -

Monopoly? Do you even know what a monopoly is? Here ya go... from dictionary.com:

mo·nop·o·ly /məˈnɒpəli/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[muh-nop-uh-lee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -lies. 1. exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. Compare duopoly, oligopoly.
2. an exclusive privilege to carry on a business, traffic, or service, granted by a government.
3. the exclusive possession or control of something.
4. something that is the subject of such control, as a commodity or service.
5. a company or group that has such control.
6. the market condition that exists when there is only one seller.
7. (initial capital letter) a board game in which a player attempts to gain a monopoly of real estate by advancing around the board and purchasing property, acquiring capital by collecting rent from other players whose pieces land on that property [2]

There you go, a monopoly is "exclusive" control over a comodity or service... well, is the oil industry a monopoly... lets look at how many companies are in the oil industry:

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, United Arab Emirates
Addax Petroleum, Switzerland
Alon USA, United States
Amerada Hess Corporation, United States
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, United States
Arbusto Energy, United States
Atlantic Petroleum, Faroe Islands
BG Group, United Kingdom
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, India
BHP Billiton, Australia
BP, United Kingdom
Cairn Energy, India
Canadian Natural Resources, Canada
Charottar Gas Sahkari Mandli., India
Chevron Corporation, United States
Citgo, Venezuela
CNOOC Ltd., China
ConocoPhillips, United States
Crown Central Petroleum, United States
Cupet, Cuba
Devon Energy, United States
Ecopetrol, Colombia
Emarat, UAE
Emarat Misr, Egypt
Enbridge, Canada
EnCana, Canada
ENSCO International, United States
Elinoil Hellenic Petroleum Company S.A., Greece
Eni, Italy
Essar Oil, India
ExxonMobil, United States
Faroe Petroleum, Faroe Islands
Galp Energia, Portugal
Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd., India
Geo Global Resources., India
Petronet LNG Limited, India
Gujarat Gas Co. Ltd., India
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, India
Gulf Oil, United States
Grupa LOTOS, Poland
Hellenic Petroleum, Greece
HOECL, India
Hess Oil Company, USA
Husky Energy, Canada
Imperial Oil, Canada
INA (Industrija Nafte), Croatia
Indian Oil Corporation, India
Insight Energy Corp, United States
Irving Oil, Canada
Jubiliant Empro, India
JHON ENERGY, India
Kerr-McGee, United States
Koch Industries, United States
Kuwait German Petroleum Company, Canada
The Louisiana Land & Exploration Company, United States
LUKoil, Russia
Marathon Oil Corporation, United States
Maxol Group, Republic of Ireland
Mol Group, Hungary
Naftna Industrija Srbije, Serbia
National Oil Corporation, Libya
Neste Oil, Finland
Norsk Hydro, Norway
North Atlantic Petroleum, Canada
Northern Territory Oil Limited, Australia
NNPC,Nigeria
Occidental Petroleum
Oil & Gas Petroleum Corporation, United States
Oil India Limited, India
OMV, Austria
ONGC, India
PKN Orlen S.A., Poland
PSO, Pakistan
Petróleos de Venezuela, Venezuela
Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico
Petro-Canada, Canada
Petro Peru, Peru
Petrobras, Brazil
PetroChina, China
Petroconpak, Pakistan
PetroKazakhstan, Canada
Petron Corporation, Philippines
PETRONAS, Malaysia
Petrotrin, Trinidad and Tobago
Pertamina, Indonesia
Piyush Petroleum Co. Ltd, India
Pogo Producing, United States
Prize Petroleum CO.LTD., India
Qatar Petroleum, Qatar
Reliance Industries Limited, India
Repsol YPF, Spain
Rompetrol Group N.V., Romania
Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands, United Kingdom
Santos Limited, Australia
Sasol, South Africa
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia (the largest in the world)
Shell Canada, Canada (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Shell Oil Company, United States (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Sinclair Oil, United States
Sinopec, China
Sonangol, Angola
Sonatrach, Algeria
SPC, Singapore
Statoil, Norway
Stuart Petroleum Limited, Australia
Sunoco, United States
Suncor Energy, Canada
Surgutneftegaz, Russia
Syncrude, Canada
Talisman Energy, Canada
Teikoku Oil, Japan
Todd Energy, New Zealand
Total, France
Turkish Petroleum Corporation, Turkey
Turkish Petroleum International Company Limited, Turkey
Tüpraş, Turkey
United Petroleum, Australia
Vaalco Energy Inc., United States
Van Doren Oil, United States
Woodside Petroleum, Australia
YPFB, Bolivia
YUKOS, Russia [3]

Doesn't look like there is any monopoly to me...

Answer 2

The question you should've asked is "Is there anything RIGHT with Oil Companies?" The answer is NO, there's nothing they do right. They rape the earth and reap the profits. They pollute the air we breath and the water we drink. Then they export their oil that's found right here in the US to other countries and import oil from other countries into the US. Now, in the case of Alaska, I can understand exporting oil since Asia would have closer ports, but oil from anywhere else in the US should stay here. Why are we trading oil? Why are we subsidizing huge corporations with Corporate Welfare, INCLUDING Oil Companies?!!? 92 BILLION in 2006 alone. Why are we not trying to find renewable clean energy sources to protect the environment and break our dependence on foreign oil? And as Nostradamus (the poster above, not the prophet) said, they're a monopoly. How many Oil Companies are there? TEN? Twelve tops? Is that really "competition?" Hardly. And drilling for more oil here only ensures that oil will be sent to other countries, that the Oil Companies will pollute MORE, the Oil Companies will make MORE Money and the price of gas will stay the SAME! And we will still be using a DIRTY, non-renewable energy source.

Answer 3

Monopoly? There are dozens of oil companies and a number of big ones. They had 15+ yrs of bad times and now make a 5% profit while the government makes a killing in taxation and regulation. If we drill more here at home, including in shale rock, and build new refineries we could see oil prices drop significantly but the left will not allow that to happen. Of ourse we could rely more on nuclear power like the Europeans- it is safe and efficient.

Answer 4

The short answer is No. Two years ago, we traded in a perfectly satisfactory Ford for a hybrid -- which gets double the gas mileage. It wasn't paying for itself at the time, but every day it is looking like a smart move.

Answer 5

When people accept being subordinated to the whims of corporations, that's sad.

When people actually defend a vile and self-serving industry, when many of them are victims of this same industry ... that truly enters into the realm of the surreal.

Those under 35 who think the oil and energy industries are so nice and sweet ... you'll get what you deserve in the decades ahead. See you in about twenty years.

Answer 6

We ship oil from the middle east into the U.S.because it is the best grade in the world.Its the only oil jet fuel can be made from.

Answer 7

I could not read this question and not laugh out loud. Almost peed myself a little.

Answer 8

one word:
monopoly.