[joeltrout]

The Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil? poll is starting to bother me.

46% of 635 respondents said YES or they are UNSURE.

Only 54% said NO to windfall profits tax on big oil.

Why should Big Oil profits be taxed?



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rdberg1957', '
')Hey joeltrout, how about drilling in your back yard? After all, no restrictions. Yes, oil companies will pass tax costs onto consumers--this will reduce demand for oil.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou forget they are public companies. If they don't please their shareholders then the shareholders can sell the stock and walk which would destroy the companies.

[joeltrout]

It is a fact that we need oil and will oil in the near-term. Mainly for transportation needs.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou forget they are public companies. If they don't please their shareholders then the shareholders can sell the stock and walk which would destroy the companies.

[heroineworshipper]

Enjoy paying your corporate overlord's higher taxes.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') don't think you are wrong

[idiom]

But you don't understand. Oil is the essence of evil, that is why it is black and sticks to everything.

Making profit from Evil is like Evil Squared. Therefore is should be taxed like crazy.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')aking profit from Evil is like Evil Squared. Therefore is should be taxed like crazy.

[MrBill]

Subsidizing energy consumption and taxing oil cos. over and above normal corporate taxes is like smoking asbestos tipped cigarettes. They will get you where you're going a lot quicker.

[ROCKMAN]

Here’s another approach to consider. Let’s stop taxing the oil companies all together. Instead, let the gov’t help finance their operations. If fact, let the gov’t guarantee loans so that the oil companies can buy up oil fields overseas as well as fund newly developing projects. Of course, the oil companies would be required to bring that oil back to the US and sell it for cost plus an adequate profit. This oil would certainly cost far less then what it would be selling for on the world market since there would be no markup at the well head. And the US could throw in a little military security to the mix…something a few other countries might appreciate these days. Additionally, the US could never be outbid for this oil…it would belong to us from the well head to the gas tank. The refiners would be tickled pink: not only would they have a secured source of crude long term but they know what it will cost them. In fact, if the gov't loaned them the money and secured a source of heavy/sour crude they would start building/converting new refineries tomorrow. In the end, the Big Oils (owned by 10’s of millions of middle class Americans) would make a nice profit, the economy would have a much more secure and cheaper source of a commodity that is shrinking globally and the gov’t would probably make a profit itself on the investment.

Ahhh…just a crazy idea. But, then again, this describes the Chinese gov’t policy towards securing its economic future. They’ve been following this business plan for the last 10 years. But what the hell do they know. Their economy is only growing 5 or 10 times as fast as ours.

[3aidlillahi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Ahhh…just a crazy idea. But, then again, this describes the Chinese gov’t policy towards securing its economic future. They’ve been following this business plan for the last 10 years. But what the hell do they know. Their economy is only growing 5 or 10 times as fast as ours.

[ROCKMAN]

Actually the Chinese companies pay more than most of the Big Oils for their expat workers. But, as you say, you don't want to be working for Chinese wages. Unless your a Chinese citizen...their oil patches workers are higly paid by Chinese standards...which suck by ours standards.

China is a communist gov't only internally. They are some of the most cut throat free enterprise SOB's on the planet. Go do a trade with them and let me know if you beat them at the game. They will beat almost any company any day of the week. They essentially don't factor in a "profit margin" in their deals. They also have zero envirinmental restrictions. They have no moral restrictions. It really is all about accessing the world's crude oil...not making a profit. But they don't need to. With the low labor cost you mention they can take a bbl of crude and make a bigger revenue then most other "advanced countrie". That's why they can absorb the high crude cost better than many other countries.

I still haven't been able to quantify the volume of oil they've tied up. But someday down the line we may start seeing a noticible gap between produced volumes and sales volume which will be more than the Export Land model can account for. Just a guess but I can see where one day China may have removed 10+ million bopd out of the market place.