This story, from the front page of today's
Kansas City Star, needs to be spread far and wide:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/11986905.htm
Headlined "Big squeeze by big oil," the story reports how oil companies have followed a systematic strategy of shutting down domestic refineries since the late 1970s, for the sole purpose of constricting domestic supplies and driving up prices and profits.
Reporter Steve Everly writes:
The U.S. oil industry, wanting to drive up profits, shuttered dozens of refineries over the past quarter century. You feel the pinch at the pump every time you fill up.
According to the report, the industry started closing refineries in the mid to late 1970s. The Federal Trade Commission caught wind of what was going on and started an investigation. When Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, the investigation was summarily squelched. We've been paying the price ever since.
And not just at the pump. As the Star reveals, whole communities have been devastated.
Property that could produce enough gasoline to satisfy half the state's thirst for the fuel is now overrun with prairie grass. Abandoned buildings sit with plywood-shuttered windows.
It's a fate few here thought possible. Even nine years after the refinery closed, some former employees still can't believe what happened to the economic lifeblood of the community since 1918. They still ponder how a deal to sell the refinery fell apart.
So does Malcolm Turner. He led a group that wanted to buy the refinery. They offered the owner, Total Petroleum Ltd., $37 million and thought they had a deal. But Turner said Total backed out at the last minute -- offering scant explanation.
Seeking answers, Turner hopped on a flight from Dallas to Total's North American headquarters in Denver. Over a round of golf with Total executives, the discussion finally got to the question: Why would Total walk away from $37 million and prefer to sell a perfectly good refinery for scrap?
"They finally said by closing the refinery it would tighten up the market," Turner recalls. "They thought they would benefit."
At the time, Total told employees the sale fell through and the company was closing the refinery for business reasons. The company has declined repeated requests for more comment on its decision-making process.
Go read the whole thing. And spread it around. It's an absolute outrage.