And prices for fuel and natural gas are forecast to rise by about 5% in 2006, according to the Department of Energy, coming off last year's 35% hike in diesel and natural gas prices.

In addition to oil companies, major credit card companies are making huge profits from higher gas prices because the fee that banks charge gas station owners to process a credit card transaction is based on a percentage of the purchase price. So, if gas prices rise, the processing fee goes up. On September 25, 2005, columnist, Margaret Webb Pressler, explained the details in the Washington Post:

"So a year ago, when gas prices averaged $1.87, banks involved in credit card processing made about $12.5 million a day on fees. Now, with prices averaging $2.75 nationally, the credit card companies are raking in $18.4 million a day. That is $183 million more a month, or nearly $2.2 billion dollars on an annual basis in extra money paid to the nation's banking giants just because of rising gasoline prices."

Moreover, interest rates are on the rise, which means Americans will be facing higher rates on credit cards. 

There needs to be a full investigation into why Americans are getting gouged when the major oil companies are experiencing windfall profits. Three of which are currently ranked in the top 10 corporations on the Forbes 500 list. ExxonMobil holds the number one spot, ChevronTexaco weighs in at four, and ConocoPhillips has the number 6 position. 

Exxon is reportedly giving its retiring chairman, Lee Raymond, a package worth nearly $400 million, in combined pension, stock options and other perks, including a $1 million consulting deal, the use of a corporate jet for professional purposes, 2 years of home security, and a car and driver.

For the 3rd quarter of 2005, ChevronTexaco reported a 53% increase to nearly $4 billion; and ConocoPhillips’s profits were up 89% to $3.8 billion. 

Exxon is reportedly giving its retiring chairman, Lee Raymond, a package worth nearly $400 million, in combined pension, stock options and other perks, including a $1 million consulting deal, the use of a corporate jet for professional purposes, 2 years of home security, and a car and driver.

While testifying at a Congressional hearing last November, Raymond claimed that high gas prices were a result of supply and demand. "We're all in this together," he told members of Congress, "everywhere in the world."

"In 2004, Mr. Raymond," Senator, Barbara Boxer (D-CA), was quick to point out, "your bonus was over $3.6 million."

After exhibiting a chart revealing the pay scale for each of the CEOs at the hearing, Senator Boxer told the oil executives: “Your sacrifice appears to be nothing.”

According to Exxon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Raymond's paycheck rose to $51.1 million in 2005. 

These profits and CEO salaries are obscene at a time when the elderly and families with young children are struggling every day to keep their homes heated and fill up the gas tank to drive to work and back.

=================

Evelyn Pringle is  a columnist for Independent Media TV and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government

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