More U.S. oil won't be cheaper

Everyone recognizes that gasoline and diesel costs relate to the cost of a barrel of oil. But it's curious that many people, even powerful members of Congress, imagine that prices will ease if we just risk more tragic ecological disasters and permit drilling offshore, in national parks or in other pristine natural environments.

When oil was selling for $17 a barrel, American oil corporations' cost to pump it from their own wells was $6 a barrel. Now that the spot marker for oil is far more than $100 and rising, their cost to pump that barrel of (American?) oil is less than $10.

However, American oil corporations base American oil value to Americans on an international "spot market" price set by others including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, and Iran, notably not our best friends. That's clearly one reason Exxon made over $40 billion last year and may break $50 billion this year.

What leads people to believe that if we trust these same oil corporations not to cause yet another ecological disaster that they will price any new oil at below the international "spot" price? Perhaps it's the goodness of their hearts. Yeah, right.

Dick Denman

Rough and Ready