Shell Oil prez John Hofmeister was on NBC's Today show this morning peddling the most audacious pile of self-serving crap I've seen in a long time. Meet me on the flip...
John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company, tells NBC's "Today" show that lowering the wholesale price arbitrarily could cause a run on gasoline, which could then run out.
He says the markets set prices and the oil companies follow the markets.
Yep, that's right. Despite record profits the Oil companies would love to lower their prices but they can't and won't. Its OK because they're doing it for our own good. By keeping prices artificially high, Big Oil is protecting us from ourselves and thus ensuring that there will not be any gas shortages.
No transcript yet. Here's the link to the brief Yahoo story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/...
In the short term, Hofmeister may be right. But I find it impossible to swallow these talking points when it is clear that the Oil cos. have spent the last decade cutting U.S. refinery capacity.
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/...