Nah, the Biggies don't manipulate the oil prices...no way

[CUinNC]

like Hell they don't.......:texan:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/01/news/companies/marathon_fine/index.htm?postversion=2007080112

Marathon Oil will pay a civil penalty to settle charges that it attempted to manipulate crude prices in 2003, :eek: according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
August 1 2007: 12:32 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Marathon Oil Corp. agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle charges that its Marathon Petroleum Company subsidiary attempted to manipulate crude oil prices in 2003, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Wednesday.

The commission said it issued an order requiring Marathon to pay the penalty for attempting to manipulate a price of spot cash West Texas Intermediate crude oil which was delivered in Cushing, Oklahoma on November 26, 2003.

The commission says Marathon attempted to drive down the Platts market assessment for spot cash, which is used as the price of crude oil certain transactions.

As a net purchaser of foreign crude oil, Marathon (down $0.74 to $54.46, Charts, Fortune 500) would have benefited if it successfully sent the crude price lower.

[Mongo]

Why don't you get angry at the governments that make more per gallon off of taxes than the oil companies?

[CUinNC]

I do, in fact the state I live in has some of the highest rates in the Nation...

I can go 2 miles across the state line & save .08 - .10 cents per gallon...

having said that, the state I live in has some of the ****tiest roads you would ever drive on...

[picasso]

I don't have a big problem with it other than the fact that our country is at war right now.

[crawfish]

Geez. Next, you're gonna tell me that NBA refs get paid off...

[JohnnyMack]

A million dollar fine is like Picasso only getting 6750 for one of his paintings instead of 6800. Don't. Mean. Nothing.

[OklahomaTuba]

Its not so much that the majors are doing it, which they wouldn't unless they are flat stupid.

The problem is the majors put so much pressure on their traders. If anything, the gubment needs to punish the individual traders who do this stuff as well.

[FaninAma]

The price of oil is one of the few things that's not fixed and contolled by the central banks and the federal reserve. The falling USD, sky rocketing demand spurred by China's and other Asian economies ramping up plus the political instability in the countries that produce most of the oil have led to the dramatic runnup.

American consumers are just spoiled because of the decades of artificially low prices. Those days are over.

Now if you want to see some manipulation you need to look at the USD, the equity market, the bond market and some of the other commodity markets.

[Petro-Sooner]

:hot: :texan: