OP ED: A Brief message to the Oil companies

Hello, Oil Companies, or as you are commonly referred to as "Big Oil."
I'm a business major. I operate my father's small construction business of 25 employees. We have a small fleet of trucks ranging from Ford Rangers to Toyota Tacomas. The largest trucks we got are two F-150s and 1 GMC Sierra. We are weighing the option of cutting these trucks from our fleet because of the rising fuel costs. God knows we need these trucks but we cannot survive paying that much more in fuel either.

I am perfectly familiar with the rules of economics especially Supply and Demand and how a change in either affects the price of a commodity. There is something different about how you guys operate in accordance to those laws. In fact, it seems Iike you guys ignore them. Yes, much of the crude oil comes from the middle east. That region has always been unstable. And now with the increased chaos I know that would affect the price of future barrels of oil. So why is it that the price at the pumped has jumped nearly $.20 per gallon in the past couple of weeks? The fuel being purchased at the pump was already refined and paid for at lower costs. So now we are paying more because you guys have to pay more for future barrels? Your production hasn't slowed down so that's not a good enough excuse. You commercials are always about investing in innovation and the future so why hasn't the price at the pump dropped? Now its about false advertising?


I defended you guys through the Bush years. I now find myself aligning with opponents of "Big Oil". There is merit to some of their arguments but I am not arguing out of emotion. I'm talking straight up business practices. When the price of crude oil dropped why doesn't the cost per gallon at the pump drop just as fast as it goes up? It never even comes back down to match the levels of when it shot up in comparable economic climates.
What you guys do to everyone that appears to be at your mercy is unfair, unethical, wrong and incredibly stupid. How will you ever win the public support back if all you do is talk pretty but don't act on your words?


All this comes from a proud supporter of free market capitalism,
-Andres
Sent from my UberBerry