04-18-07 by Court As gas prices hit new records in the Bay Area, the rupturing of a pipeline that moves oil between Bakersfield and Shell’s Martinez refinery backed up traffic along I-580 for miles near…
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Archive | Tag: price-gouging
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What Oil Analysts Really Mean
04-11-07 by Dugan Oil companies say they’re just at the mercy of mysterious "markets," But combine today’s news about energy-price worries and analysts’ predictions of more record profits for Big Oil, and a different story…
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Congress Wakes Up
Rep. Dennis Kucinich is way ahead of other elected officials on gasoline prices, even if he’s not leading the presidential-primary pack. Kucinich, as head of the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee, sent a letter today to…
Press Release
Congress: CA Gas Supply Plan?
NEWS RELEASE: April 10, 2007 CONTACT: Judy Dugan, 310-392-0522 ext. 305, cell: 213-280-0175, or Jamie Court, ext. 327, cell: 310-874-9989 Congress Presses Refiners on California’s Gasoline Price Spike, Supply Restrictions; Rep. Kucinich Requests Oil Companies’…
Press Release
Top Analyst: West Coast Is Toast
NEWS RELEASE: April 9, 2007 CONTACT: Judy Dugan, 310-392-0522 ext. 305, cell: 213 280-0175, or Jamie Court, ext. 327, cell: 310-874-9989 Low Supply Makes the West a "Compromised Market for the Rest of This Decade,"…
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Gov’t’s Windfall From High Gas Prices
4-4-07 by Court My friend Rose Ann Demoro, who heads the California Nurses Association, reminded me of another reason behind California politicians’ deafening silence over sky-rocketing gasoline prices. It’s not just big campaign contributions from…
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Pols’ Spring Break With Execs
4-04-07 by Court The Sacramento Bee’s Shane Goldmacher reminds us again how big oil companies get extra special time with legislators beyond what their campaign contributions buy. Goldmacher writes about a trip to Japan where…
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Will Tesoro Compete Or Cheat With Shell’s Assets?
The Feds’ final approval of the transfer of Shell’s Los Angeles refinery and 250 gas stations in Southern California creates the possibility that an upstart company with refining and distribution capacity could challenge Chevron and…
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$4 Gas? It’s Already Here
Dow Jones’ online Marketwatch predicts today that U.S. gasoline prices could reach $4 a gallon. Bulletin: In San Francisco they already have, at some stations. The area average today hit $3.363, matching its all-time…
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For Big Oil, Bad News=Profit
Crude oil is up $1 today on speculation about Iran and the West coming to blows. Gasoline also continues upward, to $2.60 nationally and $3.20 in California, according to the AAA fuel gauge. Yet even…
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Retailers Resist ‘Adjusted’ Price
The petroleum marketers, a.k.a wholesalers and chain operators of truck stops and convenience stores, are organizing a new coalition, P.U.M.P. (the Partnership for Uniform Marketing Practices), to stop the rising momentum to mandate automatic temperature…
Press Release
FTCR Demands Release of Information About Regulator With Oil Company Ties
NEWS RELEASE: March 23, 2007 CONTACT: Judy Dugan, 213 280-0175, or Jamie Court, 310 392-0522, ext. 327 Santa Monica, CA — FTCR said a state auditor’s investigation reported today in the Sacramento Bee hints at…
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Chevron Gouging Pays Off for CEO
David O’Reilly, CEO of San Ramon-based Chevron, rode a third year of record profits (achieved on the backs of strapped motorists) to compensation totaling $31.6 millon for 2006, according to SEC filings this week. The…