Oil Conspiracy It is common knowledge these days that major oil companies are among the most wealthy and powerful entities in the world. Their massive incomes contribute enormously to economies all over the world and this gives them massive pull in these economies. It is no wonder then that conspiracy theories and myths of large scale evil plots surround these major oil producers. They range from the ridiculous to quite believable. Every thing from the deletion of alternative energies from ever making it into the market to wars has been blamed on these major oil companies. Some of them are very believable while others seem a stretch of the truth. Are oil companies really behind these vast conspiracies? Have they really been …show more content…
As it turns out there was in fact big oil in these decisions. The trolley case of California is a classic example. Until the thirties an efficient electric trolley line was in place in many of the major cities in the U.S. the most famous case of this is the Los Angeles lines that were the largest in the country. “all this went out the window starting in 1939, when GM got together with Standard Oil of California (now Chevron), Firestone, and other auto-related firms to set up a holding company that bought up trolley lines, dismantled them, and replaced them with buses” (Straight Dope). Chevron did in fact have a large hand in this. Eliminating these trolleys created a fossil fuel dependent system of busses and increased demand for oil driven autos. This was not the only case however, “1974 one Bradford Snell, a staff attorney for the U.S. Senate antitrust subcommittee, advanced the startling proposition that GM had sabotaged energy-efficient electric transit systems in 45 cities around the country” (ibid). They were actually found guilty of conspiracy “Government attorney Bradford Snell has written that in 1949 GM and its partners in NCL were convicted in U.S. District Court in Chicago of criminal conspiracy in this matter and fined $5,000 each for anti-trust violations (contracts in restraint of trade, i.e. forcing subsidiaries to buy products from their owners: GM buses, Firestone tires, Standard and Phillips
September 11th, 2001 will always be a day that will be remembered. It was a day in history where time it seemed stood still, and one that became a moment of pronounced transformation. Today the United States and other parts of the world are still plagued by the viscosity of this tragedy; both through the wars that were established towards Iraq and Afghanistan over a decade ago, and by the continuous conflict in terms of who and why created the events that occurred on that fateful day. This analysis will argue that the United States’ government used a propagandistic approach towards terrorism in order to support the demand for foreign oil as our dependence for petroleum increases with our population and ecological footprint.
The top five Oil and Gas companies are: Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, National Iranian Oil Company, ExxonMobil and PetroChina. These company work together by using some sort of scare tatic in order to raise fuel prices. Take ExxonMobil for example, these companys have combinded forces in the United to States. These companies tell the American people gas prices went up due to the fact that there oil refineories are under maintaince. As a result gas price increase Where as in the 1990’s when these were two serpeate companies they had to compete with each other and prices were much lower. The growth in capitalism has
Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the railroad to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running his oil on their lines. Another one of Rockefellers earlier mentioned but not explained tactics was his horizontally integrated monopoly. Rockefeller used this horizontal monopoly to set prices and force his competitors to merge with him. (All with Doc. J) Document J shows that Rockefeller had his tentacles, or his influence and power around every piece of the oil industry. That, also, includes the politicians and their support.
Chevron Texaco, or Texaco Shell, is the leading competitor to ExxonMobil. Texaco is in the same areas of business as Exxon. Their petroleum products and lubricants are sold in the same markets, stores, and in many cases opposite street corners from each other. The two companies are very similar, but Exxon’s recent petroleum deals in the Middle East and Africa have allowed its stock price to jump ahead for the time being (1). In the industry, the two companies mainly compete for the ability to negotiate for new production. The competition is not made at the pump or at the local auto store. It seems that it’s more important to control oil than it is to sell it quickly. Because oil has so much value and power in the world, the industry is made of semi-friendly companies. Surviving and making as much profit as possible, is more important than trying to put people out of business.
Conspiracy theories are present everywhere throughout the world. These theories consist of explanations of an event as being the result of a plot by a covert group or organization. Many people come up with the oddest conspiracies; for example, the reptilian race of shapeshifters or that Elvis Presley faked his death. But the real question is why do people believe in these seemingly irrational ideas? Most would say they believe it because it makes sense to them in some way, but in reality it’s because, said theories become our first thoughts following the presentation of uncertainty and powerlessness within the masses.
oil industry in all of America. In the short span of a little less than twenty years, the Standard Oil Company had control over 90% of the oil business in America.
The Sherman Antitrust Act broke apart Standard oil into several pieces in 1911, and one of these pieces, named Standard Oil Co. of California, would later become Chevron. It was a part of the “Seven Sisters”, which dominated the oil industry on a global level in the early 20th century. Standard oil of California could only use the name when it was in California, and so it adopted the name Chevron. In 1933, Saudi Arabia Granted the company a concession to find oil, which led to the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, and the world’s largest oil field.
Rockefeller was Andrew Carnegie’s only rival at the time. By the age of twenty-five, he controlled the largest oil refinery in Cleveland. By 1870, he founded his oil business, Standard Oil Company. After years of demanding illegal rebates from the railroads in exchange for his steady business, Rockefeller created a new form of corporate structure known as trust. This coordinated the industry to ensure profits to the participating corporations and to curb competition. By the end of the century, the Standard Oil Company valued at more than $70 million and ruled more than 90 percent of the oil business. When Ida M. Tarbell’s articles in McClure’s Magazine, exposing Rockefeller’s illegal methods used to take over the oil industry, Rockefeller had become a symbol of heartless
Statistically oil companies bring in 289 billion dollars in a fiscal year. A gallon of gas is around 3.00, a gallon of biodiesal is .75-1.00 gallon. The oil industry is all abot money. We have become reliant on foreign countries to supply our oil needs. In doing so we are stealing jobs and abilities foe Americans to make a life
The Ocean Ranger was an offshore exploration oil drilling platform that sank in Canadian waters 315 kilometres southeast from St. John's Newfoundland, on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland on February 15, 1982, with 84 crewmembers onboard. The Ocean Ranger was the largest semi-submersible, offshore exploration, oil drilling platform of the day. Built in 1976 by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it operated off the coasts of Alaska, New Jersey, Ireland, and in November 1980 moved to the Grand Banks. Since it was so big it was considered to have the ability to drill in areas too dangerous for other rigs. The government thought it was unsinkable, so they felt that there was no need to train a crew very well.
King, Rawle O. 2013. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Bibliogov.
However, the issues surrounding oil did become more clearly defined. According to Beaver (1991), "the availability and cost of conventional energy sources; national security concerns; the technical, legal, and economic uncertainties related to synthetic fuels; and the emergence of large oil companies as major forces in shaping energy policy. These issues that became salient in the 1920s remain relevant to the 1990s" (Beaver, 1991, p. 241). Both the Wilson and Harding administrations took proactive foreign policy actions in order to ensure adequate supplies of oil for the booming economy. Both administrations assisted major U.S. companies in their attempts to secure foreign oil agreements.
The e Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the Macondo well began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April 2010 killed 11 people and caused almost 5 million barrels of oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill covered 68,000 square miles of land and sea and triggered a response effort involving the use of nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant chemicals (Pallardy). Considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) resulted in widespread environmental and economic damage, the exact nature of which is only beginning to be understood (Shultz 59). This paper will address the causes of this unmitigated ecological disaster and discuss steps that need to be taken to prevent a similar disaster from occurring again.
Peak oil is described as the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached, and at this point we assist to a diminution of the resource. Oil is one of the world 's most vital resource, we use it in every aspect of our daily lives, we use it for electricity, gasoline and even drugs. The disappearance of this resource can lead to a major global disaster. In an attempt to identify the potential impact of such a disaster and find alternatives energetic resources, a cloud of researchers started to focus their research around this topic. While the first researches made on peak oil where mostly focused on its plausibility, nowadays researches concentrate on determining the exact period of occurrence, as well as the economic and political impact of this event.
World oil demand is increasing as emerging economies need more energy to increase their living standards. Estimates, shown below, are that by 2030, China and India as emerging markets will import over 70% to 90% of their fossil fuel needs (1) . Coupled to a continued high and growing demand for oil, makes this a robust market for the next 30 years.