Save On Your Gas Bills

In the Royal Dutch Shell plc Annual Report 2007, the Chief Executive Review section stated:

Our financial performance was satisfactory, with record income of $31.9 billion and the return of $13.4 billion to shareholders.

I just can’t help feeling sorry for ourselves, and a bit indignant, that these gigantic oil conglomerates are making record profits, while the whole world bleeds from increasing gas expenses.

This is especially so after I read a highly elucidating article Debunking Oil Industry Myths and Deception: The $100 Billion Consumer Rip-Off - A Report on Rising Gas Prices and Industry Profits by Mark Cooper, Director of Research, Consumer Federation of America.

The oil trends in the two years following its publication in May 2006 have largely remained unchanged, characterised by even more phenomenal windfall profits for oil companies, lack of competition in the oil and gas industry, inelastic demand for gas, and gas price spikes.

Hence, I read with dismay the following news from
Shell Investor Centre:

22/08/2008 Shell Canada Limited Completes Acquisition of Duvernay Oil Corp.

Shell Canada Limited (“Shell Canada”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, announced today that as of 1:01 a.m. on August 22, 2008, 61,661,551 common shares of Duvernay Oil Corp (“Duvernay”) have been validly deposited to the offer by BRS Gas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell Canada, to acquire all of the common shares of Duvernay (including common shares issuable upon the exercise or surrender of any options).

This can only portend bad news for gas-dependant consumers, as supply-side oil companies control the supply of gas through strategic rationalisation of oil-producing and oil-refining capacities.

What struck me most was the following statement in Mark Cooper’s report:

A substantial part of the problem and the long-term solution
lies on the demand side in our vehicle fleet.

Hence, it is in your hands not to be at the mercy of these oil companies. You can change your gas needs. You can switch to alternative fuels, like HalfWaterHalfGas. You can finally stand up to the oil companies and exercise your choice. You can say, “I am no longer going to be at your total mercy!”.