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Claim: Spurning gasoline from Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil will cut off the funding of terrorists.
Examples:
Origins: If it weren't for all the gross statistical errors and the naïve grasp of oil industry economics exhibited here, this piece might actually have some validity.
(Henceforth, our definition of "Middle East" will encompass the five countries identified by theU.S. Department of Energy as "Arab OPEC" nations: Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. This definition does not include other oil-exporting countries identified by the DoE as "Persian Gulf" exporters, such as Bahrain, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.)
Moving along, we find that nearly all of the statistics offered in the piece quoted above are erroneous or outdated:
$3.76 billion dollars per year in the coffers of Middle Eastern
countries.
Statistics aside, the glaring fallacy here is the suggestion that we could possibly buy our gasoline only from these selected companies. This notion is like claiming that we could put the big grocery chains out of business if we all bought our food only from smallmom & pop stores, but ignoring the fact that these small shops couldn't possibly come close to supplying all our grocery needs. The oil companies named above are relatively small (which is a large part of the reason why they don't necessarily import from the Middle East) and could not satisfy the demand that would be created if a significant portion of the USA's consumer base were to shun all the largest oil companies, unless they bought up the output of the companies we were supposed to be avoiding in the first place (or, alternatively, unless they raised their prices sky-high).
Moreover, the idea that oil companies sell gasoline only through their branded service stations, and therefore if you don't buy gasoline from Shell-branded gas stations you're not sending money to Shell (or, by extension, the Middle East), is wrong. Oil companies sell their output through a variety of outlets other than their branded stations; as well, by the time crude oil gets from the ground into our gasoline tanks, there's no telling exactly where it came from. (A good deal of the crude oil purchased from Russia, for example, is oil from Iraqi fields sold through Russian middlemen.)
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted:
Complex problems rarely lend themselves to simple, painless answers. Simply shifting where we buy gasoline isn't nearly as good a solution as the much tougher choice of sharply curtailing the amount of gasoline we buy.
Other Articles on Snopes.com About Other Calls to Arms re Gasoline Prices:
Last updated: 16 March 2005
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2005
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
Sources:
Examples:
|
[Collected on the Internet, 2005] WHERE TO BUY YOUR GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON Why didn't George W. think of this? Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil : Shell............................. 205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! We're now at $53+ a barrel. Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil: Citgo.......................0 barrels Sunoco.................0 barrels Conoco.................0 barrels Sinclair.....................0 barrels BP/Phillips............0 barrels Hess........................0 barrels ARCO.......................0 barrels All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do. Now, don't wimp out at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day, all (I don't like chain e-mail, but I think this is worth while) [Collected on the Internet, 2005] Nothing is more frustrating to me than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. It turns out that some oil companies import a lot of middle eastern oil and others do not import any. I thought it might be interesting for Americans to know which oil companies are the best to buy their gas from. Here is the list: Top 4 companies that import middle eastern oil (for the period Shell 205,742,000 barrels of oil Chevron/Texaco 144,332,000 Exxon/Mobil 130,082,000 Marathon 117,740,000 If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to about Here are some large companies that do not import much Middle Eastern oil: Citgo 0 barrels of oil Sunoco 0 Conoco 0 Sinclair 0 Phillips 0 BP Amoco 62,231,000 All this information is available from the Department of Energy and can be easily documented. Refineries located in the U.S. are required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. They report on a monthly basis. |
Origins: If it weren't for all the gross statistical errors and the naïve grasp of oil industry economics exhibited here, this piece might actually have some validity.
Although the message quoted above doesn't address where (outside of the Middle East) we import oil from, many people come away from reading it with the mistaken impression that most of the USA's crude oil is imported from the Middle East. It isn't. According to some recent figures regarding crude oil imports, only 31% of the USA's imports came from Arab OPEC countries (Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) in January 2002. The top six countries (by percentage of total USA imports) supplying crude oil to the USA in January 2002 were:
| Saudi Arabia: | 16.9% |
| Mexico: | 15.1% |
| Canada: | 15.0% |
| Venezuela: | 14.4% |
| Iraq: | 11.4% |
| Nigeria: | 5.9.% |
(Henceforth, our definition of "Middle East" will encompass the five countries identified by the
Moving along, we find that nearly all of the statistics offered in the piece quoted above are erroneous or outdated:
By the way, 86% of all middle eastern oil comes from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Sorry, but no. According to the chart below, straight off the U.S. Department of Energy's (DoE) web site, only 56% of the oil exported from the Persian Gulf in 2001 came from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and that figure is probably even lower now that Iraq has cut its oil exports in protest of Israel's recent actions on the West Bank. Here are some large companies that do not import much Middle Eastern oil:
Citgo 0 barrels of oil
Sunoco 0
Conoco 0
Sinclair 0
Phillips 0
BP Amoco 62,231,000
Wrong again. The DoE tracks oil imports by company each month, and although the raw data are a little hard to follow (fortunately, the DoE also provides an explanation of their symbols), for February 2002 the totals were as follows: Citgo 0 barrels of oil
Sunoco 0
Conoco 0
Sinclair 0
Phillips 0
BP Amoco 62,231,000
- CITGO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the national oil company of Venezuela, so naturally most of its crude oil comes from there. However, in
February 2002 CITGO also imported from Middle Eastern countries in the following quantities:
Iraq: 1,342,000 barrels Kuwait: 437,000 barrels
- Conoco imports primarily from Mexico, Venezuela, and Canada, and not from Middle Eastern countries. However, they are planning to merge with Phillips, which does import from Middle Eastern countries (see below).
- BP imports from a variety of oil-producing countries, but in
February 2002 BP North America also imported from Middle Eastern countries in the following quantities:
Iraq: 470,000 barrels Kuwait: 415,000 barrels Saudi Arabia: 2,123,000 barrels Algeria: 3,853,000 barrels
- Phillips also imports from a variety of oil-producing countries, but in
February 2002 Phillips imported from Middle Eastern countries in the following quantities:
Iraq: 717,000 barrels Saudi Arabia: 1,100,000 barrels
- Sinclair imports from Canada, not the Middle East.
- Sunoco imports primarily from Canada, Angola, and Nigeria, not Middle Eastern countries.
|
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Statistics aside, the glaring fallacy here is the suggestion that we could possibly buy our gasoline only from these selected companies. This notion is like claiming that we could put the big grocery chains out of business if we all bought our food only from small
Moreover, the idea that oil companies sell gasoline only through their branded service stations, and therefore if you don't buy gasoline from Shell-branded gas stations you're not sending money to Shell (or, by extension, the Middle East), is wrong. Oil companies sell their output through a variety of outlets other than their branded stations; as well, by the time crude oil gets from the ground into our gasoline tanks, there's no telling exactly where it came from. (A good deal of the crude oil purchased from Russia, for example, is oil from Iraqi fields sold through Russian middlemen.)
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted:
Economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says any boycott of "bad guy" gasoline in favor of "good guy" brands would have some unintended (and unhappy) results.
Although foreign relations wax and wane, Welch says, the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."
So motorists would end up buying Arab oil anyway — and paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.
And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."
Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline-- and buy it all from somebody else's refinery."
St. Louis University's Welch says, "The e-mail presupposes that you know who the supplier is, and that's not always the case."
Finally, what this scheme proposes is merely a symbolic solution rather than a practical one, because even if the USA stopped importing oil from the Middle East, other countries will still purchase it. (Japan alone, for example, generally buys as much or more oil from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait than the USA does.) Although foreign relations wax and wane, Welch says, the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."
So motorists would end up buying Arab oil anyway — and paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.
And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."
Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline
St. Louis University's Welch says, "The e-mail presupposes that you know who the supplier is, and that's not always the case."
Complex problems rarely lend themselves to simple, painless answers. Simply shifting where we buy gasoline isn't nearly as good a solution as the much tougher choice of sharply curtailing the amount of gasoline we buy.
Other Articles on Snopes.com About Other Calls to Arms re Gasoline Prices:
 |
Petition to President Bush |
| |
Call for 1 or 3-Day Boycott of Gasoline to Bring Prices Down |
| |
Call to Spurn Gasoline from Particular Suppliers to Bring Price Down |
Last updated: 16 March 2005
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2005
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
Sources: Flanigan, James. "After War, a World Economy Less Reliant on Middle East." Los Angeles Times. 14 October 2001. Forero, Juan. "Venezuela's New Oil Law Is Seen as a Risk to Growth." The New York Times. 4 December 2001 (p. A10). Levins, Harry. "Trying to Avoid Gasoline from Arab Oil Is Futile, Experts Say." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 21 April 2002.
Robert White
----- Original Message -----From: Tom TreftsTo: Larry Scott ; veteranspost@... ; Tania Ward ; Robert White ; Randi Airola ; Mickael BRUCE ; AL COLE ; crocodilecouncil@... ; fourduce@... ; Kerstin Grant ; gulf_wars_vets_assoc@yahoogroups.com ; Terry Hayes ; OPERATIONMAILFROMHOME@yahoogroups.comSent: Friday, October 14, 2005 10:06 PMSubject: Fwd: Fw: Gas Prices
Caren <horizon1269@...> wrote:Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 06:36:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Caren <horizon1269@...>
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Gas Prices
To: angie <angiewinn@...>
Note: forwarded message attached.
Caren
Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.From: "Brigitte Rehlinger" <breh@...><
To: "Tintin" <CHRISTAR25@...>, "Rosie & Cory" <we2and1goof@...>,
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"Peachy" <quichegirl2193@...>,
"Marylynn & Katherine" <horvatmom@...>,
"Marie West" <wstmarie@...>, "Judy" <jlhughes1722@...>,
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Subject: Fw: Gas Prices
Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2005 08:36:43 -0400
WHERE TO BUY YOUR USA-GAS
WHERE TO BUY YOUR USA-GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON--
Why didn't George W. think of this? Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it.
It might even be good for us!
The Saudis are boycotting American goods.
We should return the favor.
An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia.
Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell............................ 205,742,000 barrels
&nbs Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $55-$60 a barrel)
Here are some large companies that
do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Citgo......................0 barrels
Sunoco.................0 barrels
Conoco..................0 barrels
Sinclair.................0 barrels
BP/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess.......................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy
and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much
they are importing.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions
of gas buyers. It's really simple to do.
Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll
explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I'm sending this note to about thirty people.
If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and
those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and
so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people,
we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!!
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten
friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take?
If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next eight days!
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.18/89 - Release Date: 9/2/05
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