To the editor:
Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist at Morningstar Wealth, told ABC News that the U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, meaning the country produces more oil than it consumes. But since oil prices are set on a global market, U.S. prices move in response to swings in worldwide supply and demand. Unfortunately, even though the U.S. isn’t dependent upon the Strait of Hormuz for transportation and supply, domestic consumers are still hurt by the offsetting of global supply and demand dynamic.
My question is, why? The U.S. is a leading producer of oil, yet we have no control over the price of the oil we produce. That doesn’t make much sense to me. Oil is supplied by Mother Nature and precured by man. So, oil is free. The procurement, on the other hand, is costly. The cost involved in getting the oil out of the ground can mostly be anticipated, thus eliminating the possibility of any great fluctuation in the cost of the oil. Unfortunately, the price of oil produced in the U.S. is set on a global market and fluctuate, sometimes wildly, for a variety of reasons that we in the U.S. may or may not have control over.
I’m not one who favors government involvement in anything, but there are times when it becomes necessary. We should be able to set our own price for crude oil, and our own needs should be met before we are allowed to export any oil. This is the job that our lawmakers, on both sides of the political divide, should be addressing, but as far as I know they aren’t. Another question: Why?
Walter Crean
Madawaska
