Senator Boxer Correspondence with Shell Oil – 4/9/04
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Energy
Energy and utility watchdog coverage — gas prices, oil-industry profits, utility rates, and clean-energy accountability.
Sen. Boxer Seeks Review of Shell Plant Set to Close
<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Boxer said an independent audit was needed because the oil company's credibility had been undermined by its inconsistent statements about the refinery and by a massive accounting scandal at parent Royal Dutch/Shell Group.</p>
Pumped-up profits for oil refiners;
<h3>Gas prices artificially inflated, critics claim</h3><p class="source">San Diego Union-Tribune</p>
<p>The profit results have fueled the ire of oil industry critics, who contend that the expanding profit margins are driven by artificially inflated gasoline prices and manipulation of refinery supplies in California and elsewhere.</p>
Governor backs plan to spur energy competition
<p class="source">San Diego Union Tribune</p>
<p>Consumer advocates, meanwhile, who had opposed Nunez's bill, found themselves in agreement with the speaker's criticism. "We are more encouraged by his response to the governor than by his bill," said Douglas Heller of FTCR.</p>
Camera! Action!… No Lights?
<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">In a letter to PUC Chairman
Mike Peevey today, Governor Schwarzenegger announced his intention to
send California back into the throes of energy deregulation, putting as
much as a quarter of the...</font>
Shell Slide Presentation Showing Mechanical Problems With HCU (Hydro-conversion Unit compressor) Slowed Refinery, Not Lack Of Crude Oil
<p class="source">Shell Oil Co.</p>
Data Showing How CA Oil Companies’ Profits Rise With Price At Pump
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Memo to state: volume discount
<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News</p>
<p>The state's budget crisis has gone well past the point where it can continue to pick the pockets of taxpayers while lining the pockets of pharmaceutical companies. California should demand the same deal it gets on office equipment or tires: Big buyers ge</p>
TOP 5 COMPANIES IN ARIZONA POST AVERAGE GAIN OF 90%;
<h3>SUPPLIERS REAP GASOLINE PROFITS</h3><p class="source">The Arizona Republic</p>
<p>FTCR recently published a report that correlated oil company profits with retail gas prices. Court found that from 2002 to 2003, a 31 percent increase in gasoline prices translated into a 90 percent increase in profits at the five largest oil companies in</p>
Little interest in figuring out gasoline prices
<p class="source">The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois)</p>
<p>It's time for lawmakers to ignore the squeaky wheels, usually called special interests, and get to the bottom of why gasoline prices can jump 20 cents a gallon overnight.</p>