Fight the gas prices

[Chesspiece_face]

Our gas prices are retardedly high right now. One of the popular arguments is that crude prices are real high and therefore so are our gas prices. Bull$hit. We are higher right now than when crude was at it's all time high of high 70s/barrel. We are in the low 60s/barrel, but gas prices are at record highs.

The reason that prices are so high right now is because for the last 3-4 years the oil companies have been buying up refineries and shutting them down to create artificial bottlenecks. we have been experiencing the price increase from that for a couple years. on top of that there are a lot of refineries that have had to reduce production or shut down completely because of poor conditions/repairs.

If the oil companies are able to get these refineries back online and functioning at 100% we will get slightly lowered prices, but still not what we had 3 years ago. And because of the tactics the oil companies are taking we will never have those prices again. they have effectively side stepped any government regulation on colluding on prices by setting up these artificial bottlenecks. they can control the supply by manipulating refineries thus manipulating prices and the government can't do anything about it because there isn't anything illegal.

Edit: one interesting thing about the shutting down of the refineries because of repairs/conditions/etc. is that many of the refinery owners are the ones pushing for the legislations on conditions when they know full well they don't match those conditions thus knowing they will have to shut down the refineries. Also the manipulation of refineries i mentioned above isnt just limited to the 3-4 years i mentioned. memo's from oil companies back from the last 10 years show knowledge and intent to manipulate the supply by lowering refinery production.