Classical Gas ~ Gouging!

So this state’s legalites - sworn in to tear down anything that abridges the citizens’ rights - have failed once again to halt “price gouging” at the gas pumps! The Alaska Department of Law along with the House Judiciary Committee set out on a mission seeking relief for Alaskans. That mission followed the Bush doctrine and was accomplished before it began and we are still the laughing stock state when it comes to getting ripped off at the pump. According to numbskulls in Oz - a.k.a. Juneau - “gas prices aren’t coming down as fast as they are in the Lower 48 and (we) haven’t found a magic bullet to fix the problem”. Hey, have you looked for the smoking gun? It is easy to understand why Alaskans have and always will pay outrageous prices for motor gasoline and heating fuel. It is called “Corporate Greed”. So you say big deal, as everybody knows that! But that lame old excuse takes on reality at the Alaskan gas pump. So far the state bureaucrats has come up empty handed as to why this state’s citizens - a state with bragging rights with respect to the largest producing oil fields and a pipeline that at one time delivered 20-percent of the nations energy needs on a daily basis - continue to get ripped and raped just trying to get to the store to buy groceries! Take into account that this same pipeline delivers millions of barrels of crude oil to markets, the main ingredient in making gasoline and heating fuel. So why do the numbskulls come up empty handed? Well it is very simple math. The most lucrative pipeline ever built and placed in service upon Americanized soil was and is the Trans-Alaskan-Pipeline. It all boils down to delivery! And this lucrative “cash cow” – as Congressmen Dingell called it during a Congressional hearing way back when – it is by now 30-years in the making with that the “taking”. The state has failed miserably over these years when it comes to infiltrating what goes on with the oil business, right in our own backyard. It indeed follows a convoluted supply and demand theory, wherein the supply side is controlled so far out of whack with the demand part of the equation it nauseates. In a nutshell, the oil companies explore for the oil, they exploit the oil, they ship their oil, which means they have carte’ blanche control over the destiny of their “own” oil, which whittles down to total control over the price of that commodity. Now there exist some checks and balances along the way which act as a deterrent to “price” monopolization. So it means the greed masters must find “loophole hideaways” to manipulate righteousness – which equals “greed”. Now the well-head price of crude oil finds its value directly related to the world-wide supply and demand theory. That is why North Slope crude oil “slating” - the price to purchase a barrel - follows global trends. So “our” Alaskan oil is not that much different in price then Saudi Arabian oil, per barrel. But it is getting the crude oil to where it can be utilized that seems to mount the smoking gun theory. TAPS oil is shipped to Valdez where it enters the market through the over ocean transportation system. Now tanker-shipping costs are also something that fits the global trademark, so it doesn’t really have an effect on the “slate”. Whatever is added for that transportation cost is plausible and acceptable. Maybe a few cents on the price of a gallon of gasoline, in the Lower-48 that is! Alaskan’s don’t have that burden, do we? Now most of the oil that the Alaskan’ producers exploit and ship, it is sent to their own refineries down the Lower-48 way, so along the way there is again that checks and balance thing. But what happens in Alaska along the way from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez is where the smoking gun marksman makes his quota. It is called a “Tariff”. This beat-up bend-me-over “term” is what the explorers and exploiters charge themselves for shipping oil down the 800-mile long Alaskan dipstick. And nobody knows exactly what it is for, except a ways and means to act as an added value product price enhancer. It takes into account things like manpower. And to this date from inception, an outfit called Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has acted as the agent in charge of getting this oil down the “producers” oil pipeline. Alyeska is an agent only, operating out of Delaware. And Alyeska has the goods of record that would allow a justifiable “tariff”, but like anything else, we have been violated. See, Alaska by right of the state’s once powerful Constitution imposed an inherent “Open Records” mandate. Basically nothing would be kept secret. Now early on, the oil companies realized that this “Right” could interfere with their behind the scenes shenanigans. So they went crying to Juneau and complained that the “Open Record” law would hurt their business, based on the fact that they were spending zillions of dollars on exploration costs and didn’t want “tight well” information made available to other oil companies, so justified. Some of the greatest espionage has gone on up here in Alaska. They got what they wanted and were given immunity. So this allowed the oil companies to skirt outside infiltration, which meant everything and anything related to oil was soon off limits. That is why even today the legalites have no idea what is happening here with respect to “Big Oink Oil”. Anyway, Alyeska is still the agent for the producers up north. So this tariff thing continues to strangle the true picture of what it takes to get crude oil to markets in the Lower-48 states. The “Tariff” in reality can be anything, as it doesn’t really affect anything. See, it is something that the oil companies apply upon themselves. It is a fine upon their own business for shipping oil then acts as a very lucrative business write-off. It works except if somebody is trying to buy oil to put to good use here in Alaska, as an independent. MAPCO, the entity that at one time owned the “big refinery” in North Pole, it sold its interests to Williams, because the tariff structure was strangling the profit margin. I would bet – if the records were indeed available – that Flint Hills cut a good deal with Williams and this outrageous tariff is some how or another calculated into the business dealings buyout between Hill and Williams. See, Williams saw how restrictive the tariff was to the bottom-line when it operated the North Pole refinery using North Slope crude oil so bought into the pipeline, to take advantage of the write-on and write-off scenario. Like mentioned before, it was a way to fine then seek relief. But Williams went under due to investing too much of its worth and wealth into the hi-tech infrastructure, which fell flat on its face. So maybe over time a business incentive has been played out wherein the Hill and Williams enjoy a sweet heart of a deal. Remember, the record books could be cooked and who would ever know? But on the outside the current refiner, well they can cry wolf whenever somebody tries to make waves with respect to price gouging at the pump. So maybe the insider incentives have died out and this outfit no longer enjoys the “Greed”. It is hard to say. Bottom line, it all boils down to this fictitious “tariff”. Now the actual costs to operate the Tran-Alaska-Pipeline were documented by an outfit called Booze-Allen-Hamilton. When upper management found out that this outfit was getting too close to the bone of contention – basically they were finding out the true costs to ship oil down the pipeline – the entire project went away quickly and all information was shredded. Fortunately, I was given a copy of that report. Some old timer found a copy of the report in a dumpster over at a business park off of “C” Street, where Alyeska had secret offices during the Booze affair. It basically details the true costs of everything up and down the line. But even though it lends merit and could assist the state legislatures in assessing the price gouging at the pumps, it can’t be used for anything but maybe toilet paper or as a fire starter. Any oil company information that is stolen is deemed inadmissible in court, another added advantage the oil companies enjoy with respect to “Open Records” gone hidden away. It protects the oil interests from disgruntled employees. So the state legislatures have their hands tied, now and forever, AMENDMENTS we need. If the “Open Record” law was once again in effect, we would have the goods on “Big Oil” and it could mean 30-years of price gouging made public, which in turn could mean reimbursements. A quick calculation goes like this. From my calculations using the Alyeska data for a reasonable “tariff”, the price of gasoline without “tariff” gouging and calculated over a 30-year rip-off period, it would amount to every driver in Alaska reaping in excess of $25,000 in payback! So the only “magic bullet” that the legislation is looking for with respect to investigating the high price at the pump is for it all too go away, again! And please, will the Benzene lady go away at the same time! It seems this state is wasting more money once again on air quality “crap”. We went through the benzene scare once upon a time ago and the next thing you know we were being inundated at the gas pumps by some additive designed to control benzene emission, and that stuff was worse then the benzene itself because it was a derivative of benzene! It also added another nickel to the price gouging, as this “crap” had to be imported. And the air quality in Anchorage has one main constituent that is causing ill health breathing problems! It is called dried dog crap! The Department of Health at one time posted the air quality constituent levels, and it was always dried dog feces that made up the major component of airborne stuff. They stopped posting the actuals after too many complaints, it is still dog crap, take a good whiff. So in ending, we continue to find crap legislation violating legislative responsibility. One day, when the pipe comes out of the ground, the records will show that Alaska was ripped off, raped by pirates that sailed in and took advantage of what was rightfully so the citizens booty to begin with. Hey answer me this. How come a major producer has never invested in that refinery or any refinery here in Alaska? The answer is simple. It is a loosing proposition as the tariff would be not as lucrative. Only a 400-mile long write-off instead of that 812-mile wrote-off. And if they started refining their own stuff, it may allow us getting closer to the truth. In ending, I can tell you this. The price of gasoline in Anchorage today, when oil is about 50-dollars a barrel, and taking into account what the Boozers uncovered, it should be about $1.12, all tax and profits included. This is not fiction, but fact! Rip off? No it is rape!

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