Well, if the “big oil companies” ARE ripping us off, lets find out about it. I know there has not been an oil refinery built for about 30 years here, but MAYBE it WAS the long term plan of the oil giants. How hard did they fight to build new facilities? The hoops the companies had to jump through were many. But did they REALLY fight that hard? Just a thought.
Refineries are as popular as nuclear generation plants. Have you seen lots of those built in the last several decades either. It's not just the regulatory hurdles, it's also the threat of lawsuits by NIMBY's, BANANA's and greenies who don't want anything new built anywhere. And while they're at it, they want to dismantle all the hydroelectric dams too.
Let's say—for the sake of argument—that an oil company had decided 30 years ago that it was good business not to build a refinery. Should that be illegal?
You can't possibly be serious.
A CEO of one of the big companies, Valero or Shell, told a senate hearing that it took 4 to 5 years to go throught the paperwork, cost at least two billion dollars to build, and no one wants one in their neighborhood. Thank the government for making it a legal nightmare to build one. I don’t blame the oil companies for not wanting to build.