Oil prices up. Food prices up. Farm input costs up.

The Department of Energy has refused to stop buying crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve even though the Reserve is already 97 percent full. This action is wrong, and deliberately strikes at American kitchen tables at a time when many families are already struggling to keep food on the table during a weakened economy.

The excessive purchases serve to drive up the price of oil – gasoline, fertilizer, diesel fuel and home heating costs – because the purchases represent a significant marginal increase in the demand for oil, with the result that consumers are forced to pay more for food and other staples while Big Oil makes increasingly higher profits. Meanwhile, food producers are paying an almost 100% increase in the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel and fertilizer just to put this spring’s crop in the ground. Overall, Wells Fargo & Co. has cost out that an acre of corn cost 47% more to put into the ground this year, while the price of corn has increased only 35%.That the Bush Administration would deliberately push for more opportunities for the oil and gas companies to make further profits is just wrong, but should not be a surprise. First Vice President Cheney had his secret meetings with Big Oil and the Administration fought to protect the names of who attended. The Cheney meeting served as a kick-off for what has become a continuing Administration strategy for driving up oil and gas industry profits. Another piece of this strategy relates to how Exxon has increased its already exorbitant buy-back program, this year spending $8 Billion dollars to buy-back its own company stock while other oil companies do the same.

Meanwhile, oil sales are down but profits up are up. And consumers are paying the price.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 11:21 am and is filed under Politics, Energy/Environment, The Administration .