Communist Web Wednesday 22st March 2000 9.30pm gmt Oil prices, oil profits By Roy Rydell As the price of a gallon of gasoline or a gallon of diesel fuel soars to new heights, the effects of the rise in prices have been devastating on working people, truckers and homeowners. Truckers have protested in Washington and homeowners have cut down on heating oil because they just don't have the money. This week the Department of Energy said that the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline would rise to an average of $1.80 and as high as $2 a gallon in some places by the summer. A barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) is priced at $32 - $12 more than a year ago. The media blames the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Mexico for the rise in the price of crude oil because of reduced production. No one is mentioning the fact that the price of gasoline and fuel oil began to soar after the merger of Exxon and Mobil right here in the USA. This merger created a monster that will monopolize the oil industry even more. Disgracefully, this merger wasn't even questioned in the halls of government, but was accepted almost as if it were a daily occurrence - along with all the other mergers and buyouts that have taken place. In all these buyouts and mergers thousands of workers have lost their jobs and the remaining workers are working longer hours with forced overtime. It is exactly because of the ability of monopolies to raise the price of the commodities that anti-trust legislation is on the books. Here's a little history of the Rockefeller family and their involvement in the founding of Standard Oil. John D. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1870. Enforcing strict economy, by mergers and agreements and by ruthlessly crushing his opponents, Rockefeller soon dominated the American oil refining industry. In 1882 the different members of Rockefeller's empire were formed into the Standard Oil Trust. Supreme Court action required the trust to be dissolved in 1911. Standard Oil's directors were ordered to give up their control of subsidiaries of the trust. Rockefeller was also a director of the U.S. Steel Corporation, founded in 1901. In 1914 coal miners at Ludlow, Colo. went on strike. The miners, members of the United Mine Workers, and their families were forced to live in tents after being evicted from their company-owned homes after going on strike. On Easter night a miner, six women and 13 children were killed and dozens wounded when they were attacked by the National Guard. John D. Jr. personally took charge of the strike-breaking and called it part of a principled fight against trade unionism. The power that the oil corporations exert in Washington is awesome no matter what party is in power... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/oil/oil.html
