EU raids on oil firms raise petrol/gas prices worries

EU raids on oil firms raise petrol/gas prices worries

www.bbc.co.uk

It follows a raid on the offices of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Norway's Statoil by European anti-trust regulators.

European Commission officials said its investigators made the "unannounced inspections" on Tuesday amid concerns that "the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices".

(visit the link for the full news article)

Just to be clear - These companies have not been found guilty of price fixing as of yet, but you can bet, they probably never will. If this has indeed happened, i am wondering the reason behind it. It looks like this "price fixing" could have been going on the last 10 years, funny enough, since the war against terrorism started!

Everybody knows that energy is being sold at extortionate prices - and people are still dumb enough to keep filling up their cars while complaining of being poor. The idea of protesting with your wallet just doesn't click with the population. I am wanting to know your thoughts on WHY this news would be posted on the bbc?

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
Everybody knows that energy is being sold at extortionate prices - and people are still dumb enough to keep filling up their cars while complaining of being poor. The idea of protesting with your wallet just doesn't click with the population. I am wanting to know your thoughts on WHY this news would be posted on the bbc?

OH we are meant to protest with our wallets? Really? When the oil companies are COLLUDING together in price fixing.

Should I perhaps walk the 30 kilometers to work? The grocery store?

Please provide a solution for these issues? Please don't say Buses or Bicycles!

What i'm trying to say is we cant run our vehicles; either personal or work related vehicles/trucks on happy thoughts.

Originally posted by DaRAGE

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
Everybody knows that energy is being sold at extortionate prices - and people are still dumb enough to keep filling up their cars while complaining of being poor. The idea of protesting with your wallet just doesn't click with the population. I am wanting to know your thoughts on WHY this news would be posted on the bbc?

OH we are meant to protest with our wallets? Really? When the oil companies are COLLUDING together in price fixing.

Should I perhaps walk the 30 kilometers to work? The grocery store?

Please provide a solution for these issues? Please don't say Buses or Bicycles!

What i'm trying to say is we cant run our vehicles; either personal or work related vehicles/trucks on happy thoughts.

edit on 15-5-2013 by DaRAGE because: (no reason given)

My apologies, that comment was more aimed at british people who CAN walk places instead of driving all the time. But yes, people SHOULD protest with their wallets, its the only form of protest that makes any difference.

What's wrong with the occasional bus or bicycle anyhow? You too good for that?

Price / market fixing? Surely not!

Lets be honest here, the big banks and corporations rig every game there is in the name of profit, and because they know all that lobbying money was well spent to quash any investigations and, even if it's so bad an investigation goes ahead, they have government guaranteed "get out of jail free" cards. In fact, they don't even get to see a jail, let alone a court room, just pay a fine, and never have to admit any wrongdoing!

Pricing and market manipulation are the order of the day these days and those tasked with regulation paid off to turn a blind eye, or staffed with the very people who worked for the criminals in the first place.

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
I am wanting to know your thoughts on WHY this news would be posted on the bbc?

I don't understand this question.
There is supposed to be some mystery in the fact that a news outlet reports an event which has been made public?
There would be a lot more for conspiracy theory to work on if the story had been kept secret.

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
My apologies, that comment was more aimed at british people who CAN walk places instead of driving all the time. But yes, people SHOULD protest with their wallets, its the only form of protest that makes any difference.

What's wrong with the occasional bus or bicycle anyhow? You too good for that?

Like I said. How are we meant to protest with our wallets at the companies that supply us petrol when they are all colluding together in price fixing? The answer is you cant. Unless you buy an all expensive and limited range all electric motor vehicle...

The bus takes me 40 minutes to get to work. My car takes me 10 minutes. It would take far too long to cycle there.

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc

Originally posted by DaRAGE

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
Everybody knows that energy is being sold at extortionate prices - and people are still dumb enough to keep filling up their cars while complaining of being poor. The idea of protesting with your wallet just doesn't click with the population. I am wanting to know your thoughts on WHY this news would be posted on the bbc?

OH we are meant to protest with our wallets? Really? When the oil companies are COLLUDING together in price fixing.

Should I perhaps walk the 30 kilometers to work? The grocery store?

Please provide a solution for these issues? Please don't say Buses or Bicycles!

What i'm trying to say is we cant run our vehicles; either personal or work related vehicles/trucks on happy thoughts.

edit on 15-5-2013 by DaRAGE because: (no reason given)

My apologies, that comment was more aimed at british people who CAN walk places instead of driving all the time. But yes, people SHOULD protest with their wallets, its the only form of protest that makes any difference.

What's wrong with the occasional bus or bicycle anyhow? You too good for that?

Erm not everyone lives in London you know? Million have to commute still to work and our public transport is crap.

Since governments are really happy to go to war over oil, then perhaps they should just control the oil industry as well, privatization of some industries are just a really bad idea in general, it ALWAYS drives up cost. Just look at the privatization of prisons and health insurance, etc. it's horrible to think many politicians want to privatize and leave oversight up to a company or conglomerate of companies in the same business to themselves... when a corporations main goal is profit is anything else honestly to be expected? Well, the politicians actually don't want too, but the money being thrown at them to privatize; is too attractive to turn down... so they push the agenda in the political realm, when only those that will profit from it are the ones wanting it.

I personally think stepping on oil baron's necks and shaking them down is a good thing, opec and their buddies have been price fixing; by cooking supply and demand books for decades, they learned a lesson in the 1970's about going by actual supply and demand, and haven't deviated from cooking the numbers practice since then.

any more details on what they were looking for? i thought it was on stavangers statoil that got raided.