John Felmy
John Felmy
bad energy marketing policy price slippery slope start starts suffered ultimately
When you start intervening in a market, it starts you down a slippery slope of price controls, marketing manipulation and -- ultimately -- the bad energy policy that we suffered through in the 1970s.
processes series takes
What you've got are a whole series of requirements and processes and that takes days, if not weeks.
allowed expect market price scarce system
As long as the market system is allowed to work, we'll have price adjustments that allocate scarce (gasoline) supplies, and I wouldn't expect to see shortages.
cyclical earning energy fair meet money rate return rhetoric risk
This is unfortunate rhetoric from politicians. We're a cyclical industry, earning a fair rate of return for everything we have to do to meet our energy needs, all the money we have to invest, all risk we have to take.
As an economist, I can think nothing else.
biggest blow body competition lost market percent petroleum situation supply system talking united
This is the biggest body blow to the petroleum supply system in history. What we're talking about is market competition in a situation where in the United States, we've lost at least 11 percent of our refining.
affect attacking companies company industry invested millions money owned people seem simply space taking though
Some people and politicians who have been attacking the industry seem to think that our companies are owned by space aliens. It's as though simply taking money from or criticizing a company is not going to affect millions of Americans who have invested in it.
business chain cyclical supply wins
This is a cyclical business and so there is always someone in the supply chain who wins and someone who loses,
congress free imposing industry mistakes past repeat structures taxes worst
It is important to do no harm. The worst thing Congress could do now would be to repeat the mistakes of the past by overriding the structures of the free marketplace (by) imposing new controls, allocation schemes, new taxes on industry or other obstacles.
banks cents fair less return risks
We make 8-9 cents on the dollar, less than banks or pharmaceutical companies. It's a fair return for the risks we take.
companies market sets
Our companies don't set the price. The market sets the price.
anybody markets oil production project sell
Markets work, if you let them. Clearly, with $60 oil, anybody who can get a project into production and sell oil is going to be doing that.
amount business certainly consumers cost dollars drag exchange foreign high increasing money oil pockets prices spent taking
High oil prices are certainly a drag on the economy, ... Oil is taking money out of the pockets of consumers that could be spent elsewhere, increasing the cost of doing business and the amount of foreign exchange dollars that need be funneled overseas.
act answer best consumers decide handle key rush
The key thing that I can't answer is will consumers act appropriately. If they decide to rush the system, it can't handle it even in the best of times.