Letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer Re: Oil Companies’ Violation of California’s Unfair Competition Act
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Energy
Energy and utility watchdog coverage — gas prices, oil-industry profits, utility rates, and clean-energy accountability.
Anti-gouging laws don’t cut gas prices;
<h3>State probed 50 potential cases; no charges</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p>
<p>"It's the oil companies who are getting fat and rich, and they're the ones who are largely safe from gouging laws," said Jaime Court, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer rights, a watchdog group. "The only ones who are going to get prosecuted are the little guys."</p>
Gasoline Supplies Should Be Regulated and ‘Shortages’ Should Be Prevented
<p class="source">Los Angeles Business Journal</p>
<p>Anyone whose hair stood on end during the latest round of record oil company profits ought to start bracing now for next quarter's reports. Half of California's dollar-a-gallon price spike since Jan. 1 for regular gasoline has come in the last 30 days, thus wasn't included in first-quarter earnings. It is hard to imagine oil companies continuing to spin their defiant excuses -- the price of crude oil, the price of ethanol -- when they are increasing prices so much faster than their costs.</p>
Oil industry unapologetic as profits soar;
<h3>Motorists fume, Congress squirms</h3><p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>Outspoken oil industry critic Doug Heller is hopeful the latest news about oil industry profits will finally persuade lawmakers to impose a windfall tax a notion Bush rejected on Friday. "The only thing more shocking than these profits is the prices that motorists are being forced to pay at the pump," said Heller, executive director of the Foundation For Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It's hard to imagine that these numbers won't rattle the cages pretty severely."</p>
Amid profits outcry, a price lull;
<h3>Modest increases, and some declines, reported at pumps</h3><p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p>
<p>Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica noted that Chevron yesterday reported a 260 percent gain in profits from its refinery operations in the United States. Overall, the company posted a 49 percent increase in first-quarter profits from all operations. "If the rise in gasoline prices were attributed to crude oil increases, it would be a pass through," Heller said. "We would be paying more but they would not be reporting these big profits."</p>
Chevron Posts 49% Increase in Profit;
<h3>A consumer group accuses the company of profiteering after it reports earnings of $4 billion, boosted by oil extraction and refining.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights on Friday accused Chevron of profiteering. The company's latest financial report is "proof that retail gasoline prices are rising far faster than the cost of production, despite all the oil company excuses about the price of crude oil," the Santa Monica consumer activist group said.</p>
Huge Exxon profits spark anger;
<h3>Even with calls for probes and legislation, analysts see supply, demand issue.</h3><p class="source"> Sacramento Bee (California)</p>
<p>Exxon Mobil's profits, covering the January-March quarter, prompted charges of "oil company profiteering" from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. And although he didn't mention Exxon Mobil's quarterly report, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced Thursday he would subpoena documents from the state's 21 oil refineries to see whether the companies "are profiteering and gouging consumers."</p>
ENERGY EARNINGS;
<h3>Exxon Mobil makes case for big profits</h3><p class="source">The Houston Chronicle</p>
<p>The nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights declared in a report Thursday that skyrocketing gasoline prices are due to oil company profiteering, rather than the world price of crude oil. It was hardly the ideal day for the biggest U.S. oil company to report that its net income rose to $8.4 billion in the first quarter, or $1.37 per share, compared with $7.9 billion, or $1.22 per share, in the year-earlier period.</p>
Chevron profit up 49 percent as oil industry draws more ire
<p class="source">Agence France Presse</p>
<p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocacy group, said Chevron's report showed a 260 percent increase in its US refining and sales profits, "further proof that retail gasoline prices are rising far faster than the cost of production, despite oil company excuses about the price of crude oil."</p>
Exxon Mobil: How much is too much profit?
<p class="source">Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)</p>
<p>"The extreme run-up in pump prices since the beginning of April isn't even reflected here," said Judy Dugan of the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It will almost certainly push profits for Exxon and other refiners to yet another record. The companies need to be held responsible for their excessive refinery profits and their tight control over refinery output, which allows them to get away with this pricing."</p>
ExxonMobil draws more fire with 8.4 billion dollar profit
<p class="source">Agence France Presse</p>
<p>"ExxonMobil's report of a record 8.4 billion dollars in first-quarter profits demonstrates that skyrocketing gasoline prices are due to oil company profiteering, rather than the price of crude oil," according to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocacy group.</p>
Big Oil donates big bucks to Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign
<p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p>
<p>The oil companies aren't the only ones benefiting from the price spike, says Doug Heller of the Arnold watchdog group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The state has reaped a $100 million-plus sales tax windfall since the start of the year, he said.</p>