Energy

Tesoro to pump funds into refinery;

June 4, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The firm plans to invest $1 billion in its plant in Wilmington to boost production for the state and reduce downtime.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"We need more gas on the market," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, whose Santa Monica-based group is a frequent critic of the oil industry. "Putting refineries into the hands of a Tesoro or a Flying J is a good thing, because they are much more likely to expand refining than the majors."</p>

The “Katrina Syndrome”: What Oil Companies Learned From a Disaster

June 4, 2007  ·  Jamie Court

The oil industry is reporting second-quarter profits this week, and has signaled that refining profits will again be at record or near-record levels. Two consecutive...

Governor ignores gas price climb, critics say

June 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, said Schwarzenegger has not focused enough on increasing gas supply in California to drive down prices. He also accused Schwarzenegger of ignoring gas prices because the governor has received hefty campaign contributions from oil companies. Chevron Corp., the governor's largest oil donor, has given his political committees more than $650,000 since he took office, including $100,000 last month.</p>

Global Warming Vote Puts Exxon Management On the Defensive

June 2, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Hill - Congress Blog</p> <p>Shareholders of the world's most environmentally unfriendly oil company have now put renewable energy and global warming front and center, defying a strong management campaign against them.</p>

Price of gas pumped up, but it fuels no outrage

May 27, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>So if oil is down, why is gas up? Ask the Big Oil executives, some of whom have doubled the profits they earn from refinery operations. For every barrel of oil being used to produce gasoline, refineries are now making an estimated $30 in pre-tax profits. That translates to at least $1 in profits for every gallon of gasoline you buy, according to Judy Dugan, oil specialist at Santa Monica's Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Gouge gripes grow

May 25, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Saginaw News (Michigan)</p> <p>"Prices are higher than they were last year, yet the price of crude is lower," said industry analyst Tim Hamilton, who's affiliated with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif. "The tail is wagging the dog. It's the price at the pump that is changing the price of crude, not the other way around."</p>

Who Is To Blame For California’s Pain At The Pump?

May 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">TV-10 News (San Diego, CA)</p> <p>Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights said, "This is clearly oil companies manipulating the price of gas." Consumer watchdogs like Court will tell you it is the fault of big oil companies manipulating not only the market, but consumers, too. Court's foundation has spent the last seven months investigating why gas prices were at their lowest the day before the November elections.</p>

Gas prices outpacing crude prices

May 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Oakland Tribune (California)</p> <p>Some critics of the oil industry believe energy companies have harvested excessive profits from crude oil prices that have risen at a far slower pace than what they charge for finished fuels. "This is shocking," said Judy Dugan, research director with Oil Watchdog, a project of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer group. "Given that the cost of refining is pretty stable, the only thing that comes out of that disconnect between crude and gasoline is enormous profits for the oil companies."</p>

Stanford poised to buck big donor

May 22, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>Some critics of Stanford's ties to Exxon Mobil said that while they applaud the school's move, it does nothing to address their concerns that the university may have entered into a bad agreement with the oil company. "I'd like to see them renegotiate the entire Global Climate and Energy Project deal," said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Refinery rules may be key to easing Arizona gas pains

May 21, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Phoenix Business Journal (Arizona)</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayers & Consumer Rights, a consumer watchdog group, wants California to treat gasoline like a utility, with more rules and oversight than other private businesses. That includes requiring modernization and expansion of refineries, and stipulating that greater reserve supplies be kept on hand. Those rules will help increase refinery capacity and supplies and ease upward pressures on fuel prices, said Judy Dugan, the group's research director.</p>

Restrict Big Oil’s effort to green-wash image through UC

May 17, 2007  ·  John M. Simpson

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>If BP and the University of California system decide upon a partnership, some minimum standards must be met: The University of California should control the direction and the results of the research. Any patented discoveries should be licensed to all comers on a non-exclusive basis. Secret proprietary research should not be allowed on campus. Any BP marketing efforts using the UC name should be approved on a case-by-case basis by the regents themselves.</p>

Activists push safeguards to protect UC Berkeley in research deal with BP

May 17, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights also called on the regents to prohibit the British oil company from conducting secret research at the public university and from using UC's name in marketing campaigns without the regents' approval. "This is such a big deal that it can set the tone and dominate the nature of research at UC," said John Simpson, an advocate for the foundation. "The regents must act to defend the academic integrity of one of the nation's premier public institutions."</p>