Big Oil Rips You Off. Need more proof?

Here are two great recent reports detailing EXACTLY how oil companies rip us all off, from Consumers Union. Although its been woefully under-reported in both the traditional and alternative media, the conclusions of CU’s May report (“Debunking Oil Industry Myths and Deception: The $100 Billion Consumer Rip-Off”) are strong and clear, and the research is rock solid. Consumers Union finds that the major oil companies have:

? achieved more than $100 billion in excess profits from 2000 to 2005 as a result of anti-competitive practices;

? strategically underinvested in refinery capacity to tighten supplies and gain market power over gasoline prices;

? carried out a deceptive and misleading PR campaign telling a huge profit story to Wall Street and a small profit story on Main Street;

? sought to blame factors other than their own behavior for higher consumer gasoline prices.
Download a copy of the 31 page report here.

On August 8th, CU released a follow-up report, with updated analyses and recommendations. Get it here.