Petroleum companies are drawing massive profits because they are not putting their profits back into their companies for the development of new refineries and maintenance on the existing ones. The problem with gas today is there aren't enough refineries to handle the crude oil available. Now don't misinterpret what I'm saying. We are gorging ourselves on fuel consumption and it is not a limitless resource. What I'm saying is the problem RIGHT NOW is the lack of refineries. And like was mentioned earlier, the oil rigs and refineries that were destroyed by Katrina have not been rebuilt nor are there immediate plans to do so. The last oil refinery constructed in the U.S. was in 1976 in Garyville, Louisiana.

Want to see something interesting? BP recorded 7.24 billion dollars in REFINING profits in 2006. Go to google.com and enter BP violations and see how many OSHA, EPA and federal code violations and lawsuits they have been hit with due to poor management, poor maintenance and cutting corners. It's sickening to think of where that money is going.

And now I will step down off of my soapbox because I'm done with this thread and definitely done with Limowreck. I'm going to dicounttiredirect.com and look for new tires for my gas-guzzling, ozone depleting Xterra that I enjoy so much and tomorrow I'm going to go pay a ridiculous amount of money for a full tank of gas of which I will burn up over the weekend driving trails and thoroughly enjoying myself.