President Biden FTW: Energy Firms Not Drilling INTENTIONALLY To Increase Profits.

[Tommymac]

Link to tweet

Thanks President Biden. Hold Big Energy accountable. It's blood money.





#GOTV2022

[Samrob]

1. Nationalize. Are they leasing public lands??? NP get the military to pump and suspend leases!

[uponit7771]

2. K&R, ... and the Saudi's are keeping their output lower than pre 2019

[Lovie777]

3. UGH.....

and where is the media?

[Tommymac]

4. Up to their shoulders in Big Energy's butt. nt

[Rebl2]

11. Got that right

[progressoid]

10. Accepting millions of dollars in ad revenue.

Don't bite the hand that feeds.

[FloridaBlues]

5. I wish more elected dems would talk about this problem

Don’t see many on tv on supporting Biden on this issue and many other issues we are facing.

[whathehell]

45. I agree completely!

They absolutely NEED to get serious about messaging!

[Rebl2]

12. Can they

do that easily? Would there be court fights if they tried that?

[cstanleytech]

49. Depends on what the terms in place were when they signed the paperwork.

[PatrickforB]

37. Congress SAYS that, of course, but that has never really been the case.

Multi-national publicly held companies don't care about national security at all. They care about shareholder profits. That was the lie they told about the Keystone Pipeline. Remember? "Oh, it will increase our national oil security!"

But do you remember those Congressional hearings? The big-oil executives would NOT commit to selling that oil to this country. Nope. They are in a market and they said their fiduciary responsibility as corporate officers in a publicly held company is to the shareholders, not the US government. Thus, they would sell this oil to the highest bidder regardless.

The same thing is apparent with gun manufacturers. They routinely use the NRA to block any gun control legislation whatsoever because shareholder profits are held to be more important than our grandchildren's lives in their boardrooms. That is the reality and we need to be POUNDING on that during every single campaign. That, and the damage the reversal of Roe v Wade will do to women, families, and the labor force.

And what about the 29 million Americans who presently do not have health insurance? Eleven million of those ARE WORKING but cannot afford care. People have to take out loans for healthcare costs. People go bankrupt over healthcare DEBT. I have been disappointed for many years because I supported Obama over Clinton in '08 because Obama campaigned on healthcare. I envisioned Medicare for all Americans. Silly me.

Instead we got a system (the best we could do 'cause we didn't have the votes to ram it through in '09, don't you know?) that increased revenue and shareholder profits for direct health insurance carriers, big pharma, and for-profit healthcare providers. Yes, I know all that about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The ACA was (and is) a big deal because it is the first national system. And maybe it WAS the best we could achieve at that time. But we CAN and SHOULD do better.

Too bad that would include raising taxes on corporations, imposing a per-trade tax on the Wall Street abitrage 'bots, removing the payroll tax cap for Social Security, imposing a (nice confiscatory, I hope) wealth tax on the billionaire parasites, and raising our income taxes as well. People in Congress (including those few Republicans who are sane) would actually have to DO stuff and take political risks - because if they did this there would be BILLIONS in dark money opposing their reelections every step of the way, and corporate media would NOT report it that way - not at all.

Equally too bad that only a few 'far left' politicians like Sanders, Warren, Porter, AOC and others haven't figured out that they need to equate the premiums and copays, the coinsurance, and the self-pay fees to taxes. Because it would even out, and we'd actually save money in the long run.

By the way, why do you think people who want to use our tax dollars, paid by us into this government that is ostensibly 'of by and for' the people, for things that materially benefit us and our families, always get labeled 'far left radical?' Oh, that's right - the media is owned by six publicly held corporations that don't want that!

[yonder]

43. Good post. Thank you.

[Beachnutt]

7. I hope there is something he can do to force

them to produce more oil, they are blackmailing America with a resource that our economy depends on.
If he can't force them then he should rescind the public land leases and organize a government drilling program and flood the market with our own oil.
Or bring in foreign drilling companies to do it.

[mwooldri]

17. To force? Defense Production Act?

Now doing this will not go down well with the "green" Democrats and sure will receive some "we told you so" from the Trumplicans but it could theoretically increase crude production. But then there's also refining the oil.

I hope this has at least been considered in the WH.

[Lurker Deluxe]

25. Again with the "just have someone else do it"

How?

A drilling rig, like any of Transocean's rigs, cost upwards of a billion dollars and take years to build and put into operation. It is crewed by a very experienced team of hundreds and rents out to whomever for about a million a day.

They are not sitting idle and they are mobile.

Attempting to "force" Exxon to do something is futile beyond the meaning of futile. The people who work for these monsters live all over the world, travel and being away from home is a part of life.

They would flee the US in a heart beat and take their toys with them, and outside of actual military force to stop them there is nothing that could be done. No foreign company is going to come over here and even try, they are working as well. What is it? Hey ... stop making billions in the Med and hop over here to work under the US government. We will most likely sue you next year ... but hey, it will be fun.

ROFL!

Sure.

[cstanleytech]

50. Futile? No. Very,verrrrrrry difficult though as the companies and the people that own them have deep

pockets that reach every corner of our government including but not limited to SCOTUS.

[dalton99a]

8. Yep.

[PatSeg]

9. K&R

[House of Roberts]

13. But we don't want them to drill.

They have drilled wells that are capped and not producing now. They need to use the refinery capacity they have with just enough oil pumped to reach that quantity.

[Abnredleg]

14. A big issue is lack of workers

Unemployment is 3.6% (4% is considered full employment) so, just like many other industries, they can’t dramatically expand. Add in the fact that refineries are operating at 91% and there is little room for dramatic increases in drilling.

[Lonestarblue]

20. Lots of refineries in Texas. Lots of migrants in Texas.

Put the two together. Issue special work permits for a year.

[Abnredleg]

23. There are lots of refineries

operating at capacity, and there is no way to rapidly increase refinery output.

[King_Klonopin]

48. If the refineries are operating at capacity, they can't blame this on a supply shortage.

If the refineries are producing as much as they can as quickly as they can, then
the excuse of an oil shortage of crude is bogus and irrelevant.

This all started when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. They used that crisis as
an excuse to raise gas prices, claiming that there would be a FUTURE shortage of
Russian oil -- it had not even materialized yet. Let's call it what it is: war profiteering,
market manipulation by oligopolies, taking advantage of a crisis, and base greed.

I believe Russia supplied us with 3-8% of our crude oil.
Gas prices at the pump have doubled -- now over $5 /gallon in Massachusetts.

The month before the invasion of Ukraine, the price for a barrel of crude was $86.
It is now $123 per barrel. Why?

Aside from the math, something doesn't add up here.

This "shortage" feels contrived. We are being gouged by oil companies who have
total control over the "free market" controls which determine pricing.
They control supply. They control drilling. They control refining. They control pricing.
Demand is a steady variable -- it has not changed.
They can manipulate the market, simply by creating an artificial supply shortage --
which is what they do on a cyclical basis.

And let's be honest. Big oil does not like having a Dem in the White House, nor do
they like Dem control of the House. I expect prices will come down a bit after the
mid-term elections, and even more if a Republican wins the Pres election in 2024.

Big oil is screwing us because: 1) They have the power to do so, and 2) They can
blame the Dems and screw them while reaping obscene profits -- that's a WIN-WIN
for them. Haven't they done this in the past?

[TheBlackAdder]

15. Gee, what's that term when businesses collude to strangle the market and keep prices high? 🤔

[Scrivener7]

16. If we all went into strict conservation mode, this would be a win for all of us.

Less drilling, the prices would come down, we would be less dependent on those crooks who are doing this, and we would fry ourselves alive at a slower pace.

[randr]

18. We need to go on the attack

and define the narrative re: increasing inflation
The corps are not going to stop raking in excessive profits anytime soon.
They are lining their pockets at the same time they achieve their political objectives.

[KS Toronado]

21. Best line I've read today.

They are lining their pockets at the same time they achieve their political objectives

[gulliver]

19. Yep, Biden's political sense shines yet again

He's our ace pitcher and slugger.

We should be on offense when it comes to inflation, not defense. The people on our side who don't see that need to move their eyelids to the open position.

[BlueIdaho]

22. Time for a windfall profits tax.

Damn to torpedos - full speed ahead!

[notinkansas]

35. We are in desperate need of that tax.

It's the place to start.

[2naSalit]

24. He's leading by example...

And has been all along. He has been consistent in doing this and we need to follow suit.

WE MUST CALL THEM OUT ON EVERY BULLSHIT THING THEY DO AND SAY!!

It puts them on notice that we see them and we are not going to allow this shit anymore.

We're done with that shit and so are they.

And vote in every election.

[videohead5]

26. In 2008

Oil reached $140.00 a barrel and gas prices never got close to this high. It's the oil companies' greed.

[hunter]

27. Wait a minute... I thought drilling for oil was bad.

Shouldn't we be figuring out ways to burn less of it?

Fortunately I think Biden has got that.

Unfortunately he has to deal with the immediate shit storms stirred up by those who don't want Democrats in power.

[judesedit]

28. There should be time limits to use by placed on them

[harumph]

29. Once again, it isn't the price per barrel -

It's the refiners' margin - two separate issues!

https://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart

[Raven123]

30. Hammer this home

[C Moon]

31. Whenever this gets looked into, the price mysteriously drops.

[wendyb-NC]

32. I guess that explains their record profits

Shameless greed.

[PatrickforB]

33. This is the capitalist utopia we live in here in 'Murika.

Shareholder profits are king, and we routinely hold them above everything else, even human life and the habitability of the planet. The doctrine of the primacy of the shareholder has been in place since the Dodge brothers won in the MI Supreme Court against Henry Ford in 1919. They sued Ford for raising the wages of his factory workers on the basis that doing that deprived them of profits to which they were entitled as shareholders. So the shareholder has been KING for 103 years now.

When we consider this from the 'perspective' of big oil and Wall Street, we see they are trying to recoup profits lost during the shutdown months in 2020, which includes the buying back of stock. That IS their job, because WE HAVE LET IT BE THEIR JOB by not overturning the doctrine of shareholder primacy and replacing it with a stakeholder approach to corporate governance.

We have also created a gross imbalance in tax revenue sources for the federal government (individuals pay in ~86% of the government's tax revenue while corporations only pay in ~6.8% - an unsustainable situation that systematically leaves the treasury short when it comes to doing stuff that will materially help Americans and their families). If we go back to the 1970s, this ratio was 35:45.

Finally, by getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, and allowing corporate consolidation of 'news' reporting, as well as the cancerous spread of right-wing talk radio, we have allowed corporations and billionaire parasites to routinely drive wedges between us so we hate and mistrust one another.

Fox didn't even CARRY the January 6 prime time hearing. They didn't even carry it. That's what putting profits over truth does for us.

[gulliver]

38. Capitalism (inevitable and a great good) needs rules

That's why Dems do capitalism far better than Republicans. Capitalism is like fire. It's ridiculously beneficial when controlled. Base Republicans and their demagogues worship (and pretend to worship) the fire. It's a god to them, not a tool. Republican laissez faire yahoos are among capitalism's greatest enemies.

[PatrickforB]

40. Indeed. No thinking person would ever say we should, or even can, eliminate a free market.

This is the most efficient way to deliver goods and services. The only thing I'm railing against is the doctrine of shareholder primacy and the corruption that has grown from it like bindweed. Citizens United, the inability to have any reasonable gun control, high drug prices, hate-talk radio.

We need small business and entrepreneurship, and we need to define the role of government as in my signature below - a public good is any service where the profit motive is in direct conflict with the best interests of those being served - policing, firefighting, planning and zoning, water and sewage treatment, the power grid, scientific research, news reporting, healthcare, prisons - you get it. This is why, as you say, the Dems do it better.

[gulliver]

41. I completely agree with you

I tried hard to find something you said that didn't make a lot of sense, but I failed.

[moondust]

42. +100000

Some executives will likely do ANYTHING to boost their stock price and thereby avoid being discarded by angry stockholders.

Big oil and Wall Street know that people are tired of staying home during the pandemic and are now going to get back out there and go places no matter what! So it's an opportunity to cash in.

[Hulk]

34. This is not a surprise at all.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but my memory tells me this happens everytime the gQp gives up their corrupt grip on the White House.

It happened with Carter...BIG TIME, with Obama, and now with Biden. Let's face another fact...higher prices result in less driving. Maybe not for everyone...but for most. We pay more...we drive less.

These evil sons-a-bitches need to be ruled in and whipped. "If you aren't going to drill the 9000 parcels, we'll take them back." If they continue making record profits, thrn tax the windfall profits at 90% and give a gas tax rebate to people making less than $400k a year.

This nonsense needs to be stopped.

Finally, truckers write off the expenses of gas, diesel, maintenance, etc....so it gets directly deducted from their taxable income. They don't need to raise their costs 100% on the consumers.

[bahboo]

36. bully pulpit time....primetime...

make sure everyone knows this....

[lees1975]

39. Yes. Call them out.

On twitter no less.

[SouthernDem4ever]

44. Everyone needs to quit using gas when possible

I have lowered my consumption to a trip a week to the grocery store. I understand that people have to use gas to earn a living, but I don't do Sunday drives or won't do vacations until this madness stops.

[LT Barclay]

46. Sorry, but they don't even need to drill. When prices were low they were shutting down rigs in the

Gulf of Mexico. I would be guessing that a lot of productive wells are still idle.
But I don't think this is the real problem. This is simply revenge because Biden got elected and cancelled leases. If I had the money to invest I would have bet on gasoline futures because I knew the moment he got elected the prices would go up. Look back in the past, if Republicans are in charge gas prices stay moderate or go down around elections. If Democrats are in charge they climb. If I knew how to gather the data I could prove it because I have seen it too many times.
Also I lived in CA for a while. At the time gas prices were hovering around $0.95 to 1.05. If they got around the 0.95 a refinery was pulled off line for "maintenance" or there was an accident. Again it was entirely predictable.

[jmowreader]

51. Not only that...

...but a lot of wells are capped right after they're drilled. They don't need the oil yet, but it's there waiting for them when they do.

Opening up some of those wells would end the crude oil shortage very quickly.

[ismnotwasm]

47. My understanding is we have an exporting problem

More than a drilling problem