Why didn’t you ask about how major oil companies as well as any large volume business purchase their supplies? They do volume purchasing over many years. For example, Chevron has 20- to 30-year fixed prices for different grades of crude. Heavy crude at $5/barrel and ranging to light crude at $20/barrel. So, Chevron converted many of their refineries to heavy crude refining.
As I recall reading, they yield about 20-plus gallons of gas from a 42-gallon barrel of crude. Even with the refining costs, which are mostly the refinery investment and shipping, they still have high margins.
However, the companies that set the price at the pump are pretty much a cartel in all regions of our country such as here. I don’t know if there are two distributors or more. But we have, which you mentioned in your article. Like the good old supermarket days when they would send people to competitors to purchase a bread basket of items to see what the competitors’ prices were, the local distributors know in minutes what the other guys’ prices are.
We consumers are just pawns in this billionaires’ game. Our government is pretty much dictated by money. Sad!
You can’t convince me a corporation is a person. I’d like just once to see a corporation change a diaper or run or walk or go to the toilet. Can you imagine how much TP that would require? That would really accelerate hoarding!
