Monitoring the activity of the industry’s largest companies.
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Blog Post
04-07-09 by dugan What OilWatchdog usually worries about is what refiners do to keep fuel prices higher than they should be, and lately I’ve been studying the paucity of real-time operational information that is available…
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04-02-09 by dugan Oil, being a commodity that people buy and consume, ought to be priced according to supply and demand. Of course, we know that’s not true. But it’s still a little surprising to…
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03-31-09 by dugan Corporate arrogance leads to corporate blindness: AIG execs who packaged impossible risk into AAA securities, bankers who lent trillions on a bet that the real estate bubble would never pop. In Chevron’s…
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When a major oil company announces a green fuels project, the trumpet is loud. Press releases, media blitz, public officials on site. The death of the project is a slink-away-at-midnight affair. So it is with…
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03-25-09 by dugan There’s no doubt that the ethanol industry is in trouble. Credit crunch, ugly recession, and roller-coaster energy prices that spook investors. The Des Moines Register has a good rundown today on cellulosic…
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04-24-09 by dugan Here’s the best proof I’ve seen that every last thing Exxon does is about the bottom line. On the 20th anniversary of the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill, Exxon is still running…
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Does OilWatchdog troll gossip sites? Well, how else to stumble on the Conde Nast Portfolio cover of Sarah Palin, with leftover photos from her Vogue shoot and a bottom line that she’s not governing anything,…
Press Release
Consumer Group Letters Charge Conflict of Interest in Oil-Friendly Outcome of California Fuel Temperature Study Gov. Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Bass Asked for Action to Protect Consumer Fairness Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog has filed…
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The fuel dealers’ newsletter Oil Express sent around a bulletin today that shows who’s still gyrating the price of oil, gasoline and diesel. The headline: Gasoline, Diesel, Crude Ride Surge in Wild Thursday Trading. Prices…
News Clipping
No Benefit To Motorists In A ‘Hot Fuel’ Fix, State Panel Says California Energy Commission says the costs of compensating for gasoline temperature would outweigh the gains in fuel volume. By Marc Lifsher, LOS ANGELES…
Press Release
Documents Show Political Appointees Interfered With Cal. Energy Commission Study Of Hot Fuel Ripoff To Protect Oil Companies Consumer Group Says Government Staff’s Consumer-Oriented Findings Were Altered by Commissioners With Ties to Oil Industry Santa…
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03-08-09 by dugan "Move over, Big Oil. There’s a new VIP guest in the White House: Silicon Valley." Writers know you have to nab readers with the lead paragraph. That one above, by Erika Lovley…
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03-04-09 by dugan Are fairness and transparency in buying and selling just "public perceptions" that are "subjective" and "variable"? Of course not. That’s why regulators measure and inspect the scales at your supermarket. They even…
