This is maddening ...

... trying to convince an otherwise intelligent person of the obvious, Titus.

I am going to boil this down to as simple as possible ... I've taken a Macro Economics class or two also you know.

I DO in fact know what I am talking about, and it is this: OIL, in its' price per barrel, has the largest influence on what a gallon of gas costs in the US, period. Now, whom affects/sets the cost of that barrel and the subsequent gallon of gas, to the greatest extent?

1.) The consumer and his or her demand, which translates into the commodities speculation market and their forecast of future worth.
2.) From Canada to OPEC, whomever exports oil can affect global price in how much they choose to pump out and at what rate.
3.) The governments of the importing countries. Their regulations can sway the price of a gallon of gas by 2 to 3 dollars, ask Great Britain car owners, or the 7 blends required in CA.

Who do you not see on that list? OIL COMPANIES. They are the quintessential middle man in all of this. From the country in which they get their product, to the domestic government that regulates the subsequent refined gas sale, 90% of the price is built in before the Shell CEO even takes his morning piss!! A fifth grader can get this for crying out loud! THE COST OF A BARREL OF OIL IS THE PRIMARY DETERMINING FACTOR OF A GALLON OF GASOLINE! And until the Exxon chief gets to literally "pick" what that barrel goes for, then regulating them is pissing in a gale force wind. What is wrong with you? Do you realize that even Hillary Clinton has a more sensible approach then you in terms of identifying the problem? Her first priority (I watched her on O'Reilly last night) is to use American influence within the WTO (of which Canada and 9 OPEC countries are members) to get a better bargain for US oil companies that buy and refine it into gas. Second, she wants greater regulation of the oil speculation market. Third, she wants to "take" oil company profits that exceed a certain amount and have the government "invest"in alternative fuels.

Now, I think each of these are useless (outside of perhaps the WTO idea, & even that will have limited affect) but at least SHE has correctly identified the problem in the correct order of importance i.e. whom actually affects the price of a gallon of gas in the US!!

And let me add this regarding the last quarter profits of Shell, the 9 billion Jambo spoke of ... Shell's over all world-wide operating costs are roughly 100 billion. That's a profit margin of 9%. Not bad. Pretty healthy. Coca-Cola's profit margin in that same quarter was 20%. Shouldn't we introduce further regulation on Coke? Take their "windfall profits?" "Well, Ryan, Coca-Cola isn't what I put in my truck or heat my home with." Fine, that's true. But as a private company don't they have at least as much right to turn a tidy profit as a soda company? Of course they do. Not to mention, as Jambo noted, there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that any illegalities have occurred amongst the oil companies at all. They've done nothing wrong. They're just an easy target, due to their profits, for intellectually lazy people whom have a predilection towards hating "big" anything.

So, you want to further regulate a company that has little to nothing to do with the cost of a barrel of oil - the driving force behind soaring gas prices - and perhaps (if you agree with Hillary) tell them how much is "enough" profit. Tell you what, you introduce both of those tomorrow and I'll bet you the croc dollar that gas prices GO UP the next day.

If, on the other hand, we as a nation put forward a comprehensive energy plan that involves domestic drilling everywhere oil is at; a huge nuclear mandate with the funds to build the plants; and award government contracts to private companies with the foresight and vision of a Richard Branson (whom has set his own goals to be free of fossil fuels within two years), then I bet within 30 days the price of oil begins to come down. Why? Even though those plans would be 2 to 10 years in the making, the psychological effect on the market (and the stock market is a psychological beast as much as anything else) will be commodity speculators saying, "hey, this Canadian, Russian and Saudi crude ain't gonna be worth as much as it is now within a decade or sooner, lets adjust our future's reports", and BAM, in one swoop you've just put the US on a course to energy independence (or at least proficiency) and simultaneously begun a market driven drop in current oil prices (which is historically more sustainable and economically healthy then artificial price controls).

I know what I am talking about, you clearly do not. Your answer is to put a government monitor in the Exxon board room. You simply do not go after, with greater regulations, the one aspect of the industry that has the least to do with the cost of a barrel of oil.... it makes no sense, numb nuts.