Crude Oil | The Green Economy Post: Green Careers, Green Business, Sustainability

Getting Even With ExxonMobil

By Robert Rapier on May 18, 2011 1 Comment Big Oil, California, crude oil, depletion allowance, depreciation allowance, ethanol industry, ExxonMobil, foreign tax credit, gasoline price, Google, IDC tax credit, Louisiana, Microsoft, oil industry, oil profit, oil subsidies, renewable energy, Robert Rapier, Saudi Arabia, Section 199, Texas

In this post, which is part of a series of posts on the hot button topic of rising gas prices and record oil company profits, Robert argues against the powerful temptation to tax Exxon/Mobile’s recent windfall profits. Doing so will do nothing to lower recent high gasoline prices, which in reality are driven by global supply and demand and will risk driving more of the oil business overseas. He goes into some depth on each of the main tax breaks and subsidies that the oil sector now enjoys and argues the case that these need to be continued and that the oil sector should not be singled out. He poses the question if it is fair for ExxonMobil to pay even more income taxes, than why not Apple or Google, which have much higher profit margins?

The Oil War and R-OIL Wedding at Home

By William Becker on May 11, 2011 4 Comments alternative energy, alternative energy program, Boehner, California Chamber of Commerce, Chevron, clean energy, crude oil, dependence on foreign oil, deteriorating transportation infrastructure, Diane DeGette, domestic oil production, EIA, Energy Information Administration, energy prices, Exxon-Mobil, gas prices, high gasoline prices, Highway Trust Fund, Middle East, Obama, oil companies, oil price, oil speculator, oil subsidies, petroleum, price at the pump, price volatility, Proposition 87, RObert Reich, tax increase, William Becker

This post addresses some of the misdirections being propagated by politicians about the rising price of gasoline and points at the actual underlying reasons for these rising prices, clearly illustrating how the global price of crude oil is by far the largest factor in the price of a gallon of gas at the pump and that fuel taxes are a small portion of the overall price. It goes on to make the point that these taxes are also badly needed by a rapidly crumbling national road infrastructure. This is a complex subject; this article provides an important perspective on it.