Now that the economic stimulus package has been passed by Congress, the next course of action is to ensure that companies such as OPEC do not try to take advantage of the situation. Apparently, one concern would be oil price manipulation to which NOPEC or the “No Oil Exporting and Producing Cartels Act” should likewise be pushed.

“It should go hand in hand, stimulating the economy and establishing safeguards to protect us from OPEC’s manipulating the price of oil to squeeze more money out of the American consumer’s pocket,” says John W. Rich, Jr. “By cutting production OPEC can force us to spend more on oil imports turning our stimulus dollars into a direct export to their bank accounts. We need to take action to prevent OPEC from siphoning off our stimulus dollars.”

Rich believes that Congress should pass the “No Oil Exporting and Producing Cartels Act (NOPEC),” introduced last month by Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin. NOPEC is also supported by Pennsylvania Representative Tim Holden and Senator Bob Casey Jr. NOPEC would stipulate that OPEC’s price and production manipulation is commercial activity subject to U.S. anti-trust laws. NOPEC also clarifies that OPEC members are subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. Courts.

(Source) Press

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We all celebrated when the oil prices depreciated for the latter part of last year. In fact, motorists even forgot the alternative means of fuel like electric cars since they found no need to shift their attention to them. But now, it looks like people will start looking at them once again as the fuel prices are slowly going up once again.

AA president Edmund King said: “After the dramatic drops in pump prices at the end of last year, it may seem unreasonable to criticise the new rise in prices, particularly when current prices are way below those in February 2008.

“However, the global economy is in recession, the price of oil is 40 per cent lower than when petrol cost 90p a litre in March 2007, and the pound has strengthened in recent days.

“Recent changes in the exchange rate have had an impact on fuel prices but we aim to keep prices as low as possible. Though we price locally we do set an upper limit on fuel prices. “We price our petrol competitively and review it regularly to ensure customers get the best possible value.”

(Source) The Press

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