BY BULATLAT
Posted 7:09 p.m., July 16, 2008

The independent think-tank IBON Foundation has revealed that world oil prices are bloated by speculation in oil markets and local firms Petron, Shell, and Chevron Philippines, which are domestic agents of the global oil monopolies, are passing on this overpricing to consumers.

In a statement, IBON calculated that over 20 percent of local pump prices are due to speculation-driven overpricing.

The research institution cited as basis the 2006 study by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which revealed that as much as 30 percent or more of the prevailing crude price at the time was due to speculation-driven purchases.

IBON further said that it is likely that the current bloating of oil prices due to speculation is greater than what was estimated by the 2006 U.S. Senate report, noting that today’s speculative investments in energy commodities are double the US$100-150 billion levels of the said period.

IBON asserted that any effort to address the global problem of high oil prices must “squarely address the monopoly domination and price manipulation of the big oil corporations.”

“The ease with which local oil firms can pass on this manipulated increase in global oil prices on top of built-in overpricing underscores the need for genuine regulation of the domestic oil industry to, at the very least, rein in such excessive profiteering at the people’s expense,” the IBON statement read. (Bulatlat.com)

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