Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon/Mobil was interviewed by Matt Lauer of the Today Show. During the interview Tillerson made the following statement in response to a viewer question suggesting big oil is intentionally restraining refinery capacity to keep prices high.
"Exxon-Mobil has expanded refinery capacity in recent years at a rate greater than the expansion of demand."
Myth Busted! The excuse given over and over buy oil company execs and the press is that refinery capacity can't keep up with demands. Those environmentalists have prevented the oil companies from building new refineries and that this is the real problem. Now we know it's a pack of lies.
Others point to the rise in oil prices, but unless the gas companies are marking things up more that should not translate into 8.4 billion dollars in profits this quarter. In defense of this Tillerson gave the argument that Exxon/Mobil is a global corporation and much of their profit is made outside the US.
Whether you buy his defense or not, his answers show the biggest problem in America today. Global companies have no allegiance to any nation; they only are responsible to their shareholders, in theory. So when we ask companies like Exxon to do what is right for America, they look puzzled and ask, why? We aren't Americans; we are a "global" company.
I am a big advocate of free trade, but it must also be free trade with a sense of responsibility. Selling goods made by virtual slave labor, or gouging the middle class and lying about it are both irresponsible acts. If you are going to use the Global excuse for your actions, then you must act as a responsible citizen of the world. That means treating everyone fairly and not exploiting one nation at the expense of people’s lives or livelihoods.
Exxon/Mobil claims to be a Global company, but the CEO lives in the USA. Their headquarters in here in Dallas, TX (or Irving, TX to be precise). They enjoy lives of unprecedented wealth and power here in this country and I would argue that they are a US company. As such they should take the national interests of Americans into consideration when they hike prices to line their already golden pocketbooks. After all, the economy and infrastructure of our country makes their business possible, we built roads with public money that brought on the boom in the automobile and in the end their record profits. Isn't it time they understood that all Americans are "stakeholders" in their enterprise? As such don't we deserve a little consideration?
I know Wall Street would be disappointed, but what if they only made 6 billion dollars profit this quarter and eased the burden on the lives of the poor and middle class in this country, couldn't the good will that would bring be worth it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment