A cartel is “a combination of independent commercial or industrial enterprises designed to limit competition or fix prices.” That is a definition from the merriam-webster.com/dictionary. .
The oil products cartel is the one that hurts the most. All Americans feel it when we go to the gas station. The number of oil distributing companies in America was never high but now it’s down to five. .
– British Petroleum. Known as BP also owns Arco.
– Chevron. It now includes Texaco, that company was an independent until it merged into Chevron Corporation in 2001.
– Conoco Phillips. This company also owns Union 76. This company is a merger of many smaller oil companies including Continental Oil and Phillips 66.
– Exxon Mobile. This company is the largest oil conglomerate in the country and perhaps the world. Exxon’s 1999 acquisition of Mobil reunited two descendants of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company.
– Shell Oil. The company is part of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins. .
Whenever one of these companies raises their price at the gas pump, the others follow in lock step. Oil companies are reported to be receiving $18 Billion in subsidies from the U.S. government.
Are any of the candidates for president discussing the cost of gasoline or the subsidies to oil companies? Of course not. The oil companies have the lobbyists to prevent any real investigation of their collusion on price setting or canceling their subsidies.
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