Energy

Regulators responsible for fair, accurate gas measures keep cozy with the regulated

November 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star</p> <p>Although nothing had been done about it at the regulatory level, hot fuel in 2006 drew the attention of several consumer groups and an independent truckers' organization. Some of them began to attend conference meetings -- and were stunned by how cozy regulators were with the industries they regulated. "I was shocked to my shoes," said Judy Dugan, research director for The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif. "They have spent so long doing their business outside of public view that they don't know how they appear to other people." </p>

UC BERKELEY: BP research partnership contract is finally signed;

November 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3> Critics assail board for giving oil firm equal membership</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle (California)</p> <p>The 114-page contract drew immediate criticism Wednesday from opponents of the partnership. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica said the agreement "compromises the university's commitment to public education by allowing secret corporate research on campus." The group also attacked the change in the governance board. "BP can thwart any action they wish," said spokesman John Simpson.</p>

BP inks $500M research deal with UC-Berkeley

November 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Greenwire</p> <p>A California-based watchdog group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, criticized the agreement. "BP researchers will be able to suck up the best of what Berkeley's scientists have to offer, retreat behind locked, guarded doors and pursue their corporate agenda without giving anything back," the foundation's John Simpson said. "Academic research is based on an exchange of ideas and information. This is a one-way street benefiting only BP."</p>

CRUDE PRIMED TO HIT CENTURY MARK

November 8, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Post</p> <p>Wholesale gasoline hit a high of $2.435 a gallon, up 5.39 cents -- totaling a 20-cent a gallon wholesale rise in the last week. Gas could soon fetch $4 a gallon at pumps in New York and California, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Chevron fails to cash in on high oil prices;

November 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Third-quarter profit takes a 26% hit. The firm blames sharply lower profit margins on the West Coast.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"No one outside of Wall Street can weep for Chevron or any of the other major oil companies," said Judy Dugan, research director at Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "The outlandish profits of recent years, almost entirely on the backs of motorists, allowed them to ignore the long-term sustainability of their core business." Dugan said that investments in renewable energy projects by Chevron and others were dwarfed by what they spent buying back company stock. Chevron, which recently completed three $5-billion share-buyback campaigns, launched a $15-billion share repurchase program in September.</p>

Energy firm to pay $15,000 fine for elections violation;

November 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The action stems from efforts to defeat a ballot measure seeking to tax crude-oil production.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Judy Dugan of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights characterized the violation as "very serious." "The public has a right to know who is supporting and opposing a ballot measure," she said Friday. "In any election, that amount of money can change the outcome."</p>

Chevron hits snag, posts dip in profit: Company says high crude prices cut into third-quarter earnings

November 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Contra Costa Times (California)</p> <p>Despite the profit erosion, a consumer group claimed Chevron remains a remarkable profit machine. The Foundation for Taxpayers & Consumer Rights said Chevron is still on pace to vault to a record annual profit. "No one outside Wall Street can weep for Chevron or any of the other major oil companies," said Judy Dugan, the consumer group's research director.</p>

Opponents ask UC regents to delay signing BP contract

November 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>"The prospect of giant carbon polluters directing research related to and gaining control of key energy technologies is very troubling -- especially when the research is conducted at, and the technologies are developed in collaboration with, public institutions," said the letter to UC President Robert Dynes and UC regents Chair Richard Blum. Joining Greenpeace in signing the letter were Essential Action of Washington, and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights of Santa Monica.</p>

Record sales boost ExxonMobil despite 10% decline in quarterly earnings

November 2, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Consumer advocates were unsympathetic, noting that even with the pullback, ExxonMobil made more in three months than it did in the first nine months of 2002, the last down year before company profit took off. "Exxon has led the pack in setting a 'new normal' for its profits, which ultimately come out of the budgets of carpooling moms and pensioners struggling to buy home heating oil," said Judy Dugan, research director at the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

NO FALL BREAK: NEAR-RECORD OIL PRICES WIPE OUT THE USUAL AUTUMN DROP IN FUEL COSTS;

October 31, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>BUSINESSES PASS ALONG INCREASE</h3><p class="source">The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)</p> <p>"Speculators in largely unregulated futures markets are using any excuse, from bad weather in Mexico to a dip in U.S. oil supplies, to drive crude oil toward $100," said Judy Dugan, research director of Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and its OilWatchdog.org project. She said the number of $100 call options for December oil, essentially wagers that oil will cost more than $100 a barrel by then, allowing option-holders to buy at that price and sell for a profit, show that "gamblers" are driving the market. FTCR wants more regulation of energy trading and supply.</p>

Gasoline prices follow oil upward;

October 30, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Crude futures hit new highs. The weak dollar, stormy weather in the Gulf of Mexico and other factors are cited.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Oil market critics took the system to task for ratcheting up the worst-case-scenario fear premium at the expense of consumers. "Speculation is largely to blame. The victims, as usual, are ordinary motorists and people using petroleum products to heat their homes as winter approaches," said Judy Dugan, research director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Refinery margins have been an ally at the gas pump

October 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Kansas City Star (Missouri)</p> <p>Industry critics say that refinery capacity over the years has not kept up with demand, and that gives oil companies the power to profit even more handsomely when demand rises. "Those record prices in the spring weren't tied to the price of crude oil," said Judy Dugan, research director for The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "The key factor is what amount of refining profit the oil companies are willing to seek and for what reasons."</p>