Phil Flynn of the futures brokerage firm PFGBEST appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, hosted by Rachel Martin, to discuss the earliest ever onset of the spring season of rising gas prices, & implications for summer gas prices.
More on the interview in a minute, but first, I'm Googling Mr. Flynn. Here's what Google serves me for more detailed search options when I type his name:
phil flynn pfgbest
phil flynn fox business
phil flynn oil
That feeling washing over you is no doubt a measure of confidence that this man will, without prodding from the show host, provide a holistic take on the entire situation regarding oil prices, including the specific influence of, y'know, his own industry.
#HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I'll spare you the suspense: no one else was interviewed on this topic to offer a different analysis.
More below the two treble clefs doin' it.
Here's one quick professional bio for Mr. Flynn. As you can see, 1) he's not to be confused with the MMA fighter of the same name, and 2) he's much more than a VP and energy analyst; he's a media go-to guy for pieces like this morning's. Funny, there are no appearances on MSNBC [Edit: other than "The News With Brian Williams" which to me looked like NBC]. Hmmm. Anyhoo, he certainly makes himself available.
Here he is on something called Clean Skies News, a service of CleanSkies.com, which has plenty more YouTube to check out:
(I liked the part about the clean skies!) Actually I didn't like the part where that video stopped loading, perhaps because it's 2+ years old. Looking around, maybe Flynn's media tour schedule has slowed down a bit as it's harder to find more current video. So let's get straight to Flynn's corporatism.
Flynn writes an Energy Report for PFGBEST every business day. You might find yourself humming along to Friday's intro, Greece Is The Word. I'm not sure which song he's parodying; it's certainly more coherent than Bird Is The Word. OK, getting back to it, his 2/15/12 report has plenty to not like.
This is a man who loves to frack:
Low natural gas prices and the rising concern about oppressive regulation is putting one of the greatest things that the US economy has going for it in danger. Directional drilling and the miracle of shale gas should be heralded as an economic and tenhchnological [sic] miracle but instead is being attacked by environmentalist and the most militant Environmental Protection Agencies in history, possibly squandering jobs and opportunity because of what really amounts to an environmental witch-hunt.
The lies and misinformation that continues to be spread about fraccing or fracking is creating fear and distrust in an industry that is constantly being attacked by the current administration. The administration that is in the back seat of Big Green and has overseen the biggest price increase in gasoline in history, now has its sight set on destroying the fraccing miracle.
I remember the biggest price increase in gasoline in history as taking place during the Bush Administration in the summer of '08, but memory is tricky, even for a professional driver who's filled his tank every other day for the last 4 years.
Anyway, once someone invokes the, uh "back seat" of "Big Green"--what do you call a mixed metaphor that's part entendre?--it doesn't get much clearer; this dude's a greedhead. Re: his fracking claim, I know what you want to say; we'll say it together in a moment.
Fitch says that they also see the potential for exploitation of shale gas reserves in many other countries. Some have significant advantages over U.S. distributors. Perhaps one of those advantages is a reasonable regulatory environment.
Reasonable for safe, clean extraction & processing, or for maximum shareholder profit this quarter?
Now do not get me wrong. I am all for protecting the environment yet it seems that the EPA really wants to create problems where they do not exist. The EPA, unable to prove that fraccing is doing any damage, is looking for new ways to harass producers.
OK, now we can all say it together: THEY CAN'T PROVE THE SPECIFIC DAMAGE FRACKING IS CAUSING BECAUSE OF THE BULLSHIT CLAIM OF PROPRIETARY SECRECY OF THE FRACKING FORMULA, YOU FRACKERS! Oh, & Part 2 is the difficulty of proving that small earthquakes and land settling in areas with few or no known fault areas are directly caused by fracking, even if the evidence leans in that direction pending more research, as happened with, y'know, smoking & lung cancer.
The EPA is also trying to put more refiners out of business with news gas rules. Our refining capacity is falling already and is one of the reasons we are seeing this spike in gas prices. Not the only reason but a reason.
Dear Asshole,
Please find embedded 9.5 minutes of STFU.
Homestretch, folks!
So please don't be a pathetic whiner that will blame speculators of the run up in price. They are just accurately reflecting the global mess that we are in. As global governments try to print their way to prosperity and try to add even more regulations, it will be all of us that pay the price.
Cash in on the Power to Prosper by tuning into the Fox Business Network where you can see me every day! Get a trail to my daily trade levels! Call me - Phil Flynn - at 800-935-6487 or email me at pflynn@pfgbest.com to get you trial and to open your account.
Funny how that last bit of self-promo accidentally got left in there; I'm not at all sure why I don't just delete it.
Aren't you loving this guy NPR treated as some qualified expert with no hint of bias, & no conflict of interest? It's kind of amazing that while he is defensive in his written report, re: anticipating criticism of whining about Wall Streeters like himself causing price fluctuations distinct from actual demand, thanks largely to the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, he doesn't have to be similarly defensive when interviewed because the speculation effect on price never seems to come up, although clearly it should. Wasn't that pesky Enron Loophole closed almost 4 years ago now? Or is actual closure still pending? Is other stuff going on?
Schmaybe.
My main point is not a comprehensive overview of the role of deregulated speculation in causing commodity porice fluctuations, because any expert reading this can tell I'm no expert, just an NPR listener who chose to sacrifice some Sunday morning Googling their propagandist. I'll be first to say that commodities futures trading was created for a good, necessary reason, & I'm for it when purchasing future contracts on a regulated market means taking possession of the commodity. I understand that Middle Eastern geopolitics plays a role in the predicted future supply & that global overpopulation represents higher demand. I think oil should cost more; I just prefer it to be nationalized & gradually taxed at higher rates to stabilize the cost of gasoline in a predictable manner that will permanently move energy consumption sectors toward efficiency, & socialize the profits for the benefit of sustainable energy development.
My point for today is this: please write to NPR about their one-sided nonjournalism. They are kind of like the Democratic Party: nowhere near as strong as they once were, nowhere near as strong as we need them to be, because they are very useful when not kowtowing to corporatism, but rather grabbing it by the nads & making it pay for its crimes. They get better when we criticize them. They need to know we're paying attention. They need to hear from us.