Market Manipulation

Tough times for BP. There is an investigations into Prudhoe Bay and a recent court decision finding that it manipulated propane prices, a lawsuit is about to go to trial regarding an oil refinery explosion and now it is being investigated for manipulating oil and gas prices. It comes as no surprise that an oil company might manipulate its prices. With oil companies recording record profits and the cost per barrel of oil not being in direct relation with the prices at the pump. As has been previously discussed, prior to Hurricane Katrina, gas prices went up faster than the cost per barrel and then as the prices came down, they did so out of sync with the price of a barrel of oil. All of this likely occurred due to manipulation, and it should have been ferreted out long before this.

Oil companies have finally established the perfect storm. There is a virtual monopoly on all oil production, refining and sales in the United States. The five major companies have reported the highest corporate profits in history, yet people are comfortable that they are playing by the rules, not taking advantage of their market dominance. While they may be playing by the rules, the rules are what they decided they are. The government has gotten out of the way of these companies. The current administration has given the oil companies a blank check; Congress has yelled at the oil companies in hearings telling them to stop price gouging, but they have done nothing more, no winfall tax has been imposed, no regulations regarding the production and pricing have been put into place and no one is doing anything to prevent the environmental disasters that are befalling the areas where there is drilling - worse, there is a push to open up new protected areas for drilling like ANWAR and national parks in Utah and other states have been opened for exploratory drilling.

So long as the oil companies are allowed to decide how they are going to operate and no checks on their authority is imposed, they will of course use their information on the drilling side to manipulate prices to ensure the greatest profits. As long as the companies are allowed to control the drilling and distribution of oil and gas, they will be able to use the information on both sides of the production line to maximize profits to the consumer’s detriment. Rest assured the stock holders are not making enough on their investment to cover their new gas and oil prices. Exxon’s price is up about 55% over the past two years, so the profits are not going to the investors, but rather to the corporate fat cats.

BP is not the only company that is using its inside information to manipulate the oil prices, but it is the only one that is currently being investigated. The question is what will be done when the investigation is completed. Will BP be required to disgorge their profits and will comprehensive reform be put into place, or will the company receive a slap on the wrist and allowed to continue performing business as usual. It is likely that no real consequences will result from this and everyone will continue as usual, the oil companies will continue to record record profits, and the average person will continue to feel the wallet pressures of the inflated prices at the pump that allows the record profits to continue soaring.