It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Supermajor, Oil major and Seven Sisters (oil companies) (Discuss)

Big Oil is a term used to describe the individual and collective economic power of the largest oil and gasoline manufacturers, and their perceived influence on politics, particularly in the United States. The companies generally described as being part of "Big Oil" include ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The term supermajor illustrates the six largest energy companies, as seen in popular financial mediums around the world. ... Oil major is a generic term applied to the worlds largest energy companies. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), headquartered in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, USA, is the largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas company in the world, formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. ... Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is one of the worlds largest global energy companies. ... BP plc (LSE: BP), NYSE: BP, TYO: 5051 ), originally British Petroleum, is a British energy company / multinational oil company (oil major) with headquarters in London which is amongst the largest private sector energy corporations in the world, and one of the six supermajors (vertically integrated private sector oil exploration, natural... Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a multinational oil company (oil major) of Anglo Dutch origin. ... ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is an international energy company with its headquarters located in Houston, Texas. ...

Usually used to represent the industry as a whole in a pejorative or derogatory manner, "Big Oil" has come to encompass the enormous impact crude oil exerts over first-world industrial society. Additionally, "Big Oil" is also utilized to discuss the consumer relationship with oil production and petroleum use, as consumers in the United States and Europe tend to respond to petroleum price spikes by purchasing vehicles with greater fuel efficiency during these periods. Historically, consumer interest in fuel efficiency and the oil debate wanes significantly as pump prices stabilize. Fuel efficiency sometimes means the same as thermal efficiency, that is, the efficiency of converting energy contained in a carrier fuel to kinetic energy or work. ...

In 2005, the term Big Oil has been used regularly in the media as the United States pump price for regular unleaded gasoline passed $2.00 U.S., then $3.00 U.S. in early autumn. The critical increase in fuel cost has been attributed to the effects of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, in addition the increasing costs of crude oil on world markets resulting from the uncertain status of supply, political instability in the Niger River Delta, the death of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, and the ongoing Iraq War. The phase-out of MTBE for ethanol is another factor during 2006 - some parts of the U.S. were selling regular unleaded for $3.27/gallon - especially in West Coast states. Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa; 26. ... Lowest pressure 895 mbar (hPa)[1] Damages $10 billion (2005 USD)[1] Fatalities 7 direct, 113 indirect Areas affected Bahamas, Florida, Cuba, Yucatán Peninsula, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season Hurricane Rita is the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most... King Fahd of Saudi Arabia King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz (born in Riyadh in 1923) is the king and prime minister of Saudi Arabia and leader of the House of Saud. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... MTBE is highly flammable and is widely used as an oxygenate. ... Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, slightly toxic chemical compound with a distinctive perfume-like odor, and is the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. ...

A current issue is whether the petroleum industry has engaged in profiteering by recording alleged windfall profits during a time of alleged meteorological and political unrest. The oil industry has responded by outlining their extensive costs, market uncertainties and public education efforts with regard to industry background and how the system of commodity futures effects pricing. Industry supporters and many fiscal conservatives have supported the industry as an example of free market economics. Industry detractors have focused on specific profit reports and attempted to outline allegations that the oil industry has utilized unrest to achieve unjust enrichment. The act of price gouging in an undersupplied market. ...

The Republican Party of United States is often criticized for giving tax breaks to Big Oil [1][2][3]. By some accounts, past support of Big Oil was one reason many Republican members of Congress got defeated in the 2006 election [4][5]. The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... A tax exemption is an exemption to the tax law of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization are instead forgone. ... Look up Congress in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The United States midterm elections of 2006 will be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. ...

See also

• Price gouging
• Big Tobacco
• Big Chocolate
• Big business
• Big labor

Big Oil = Big Problems Price gouging is a term of variable, but nearly always pejorative, meaning, referring to a sellers asking a price that is much higher than what is seen as fair under the circumstances. ... Big Tobacco is the nickname that is often applied to the big three tobacco corporations in the United States. ... It has been suggested that chocolate and slavery be merged into this article or section. ... Big business is usually used as a pejorative reference to the significant economic and political power which large and powerful corporations (especially multinational corporations), are capable of wielding. ... Big labor is a term used to describe large organized labor unions, particularly in the United States. ...

External links

• Crude Awakening (NOW)
• Big Oil's bigtime looting (editorial from the Boston Globe)
• Big Oil bears brunt over gas prices (Reuters)
• Big Oil bosses prepare to face Congress (CNN)