Proof Oil Companies Purposefully Lowered Gas Prices In Run Up To the 2006 Election

A new study by a consumer watchdog group found that Exxon, Shell and Marathon Oil slashed fourth quarter refining profit margins to temporarily lower pump prices in the run up to 2006 General Election. Exxon dropped margins 18% in the run up to the election. Shell dropped theirs by 23%. In addition the oil companies flooded the market with extra oil to drive the prices down before the election. The prices went back up after the election. These same Oil Companies contributed far more to Republican candidates than to Democratic candidates.

Also after the election President Bush thanked the Oil Industry by introducing new policy that would increase the price of gas. He doubled the amount of oil that the government buys to keep in surplus resulting in a huge drop in supply sending prices (and oil company profits) skyward.

More analysis of the oil industry collusion that resulted in lower gas prices before the election and increased prices after can be found here.

Consumer Advocate Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, had this to say:

Now, the oil industry claimed pump prices fell because crude oil prices dropped. But gas prices dropped far more steeply than crude oil. Crude oil comes in barrels. There are 42 gallons in a barrel and the price of each gallon was down 10 cents this October over last. But gas prices fell 61 cents a gallon over the same time last year. In other words, in the run-up to the election, oil companies cut gasoline prices 500 percent more than their raw material cost fell. And it wasn't because refining and distribution costs rose. They're relatively stable. Oil companies simply took less profit from their refineries for a short period of time. Could it have been to influence a political outcome? Well, right after election day, the price of gas suddenly rose after two months of sharp decline. Post-election, refineries have slowed down, inventories are shrinking, and gas prices are climbing.

I hope the new Democratic led Congress will investigate what amounts to election tampering on the part of the Oil Industry. There is evidence that the industry has done this in previous elections as well. Even if no law was broken the American people deserve to know that the Oil Industry has been manipulating the price of gas to change the outcomes of US Elections.