In response to liberal politicians' plan to heavily tax Big Oil profits, API, a national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry conducted a study to find out just who is profiting from the oil and gas industry corporate profits.
In other words; who owns big oil?
API hired Robert Shapiro, noted economist and former Undersecretary of Commerce under President Clinton to find out who owns the stock in America's oil and natural gas industry and just who is profiting from high profits.
The study revealed that:
Almost 43 percent of oil and natural gas company shares are owned by mutual funds and asset management companies that have mutual funds. Mutual funds manage accounts for 55 million U.S. households with a median income of $68,700.
Twenty seven percent of shares are owned by other institutional investors like pension funds. In 2004, more than 2,600 pension funds run by federal, state and local governments held almost $64 billion in shares of U.S. oil and natural gas companies. These funds represent the major retirement security for the nation’s current and retired soldiers, teachers, and police and fire personnel at every level of government.
Fourteen percent of shares are held in IRA and other personal retirement accounts. Forty five million U.S. households have IRA and other personal retirement accounts, with an average account value of just over $22,000.
Fourteen percent of shares are owned by individual investors who purchase stocks on the open market.
1.5% of shares are owned by corporate insiders – company executives and CEO’s.
As you can see, taxing profits will only take money from your pension, retirement account, mutual fund or stock earnings; a plan which simply takes your wealth away from you and transfers it to government bureaucrats with no promise of lower prices at the pump.
So instead of taxing profits just what can we do to make the prices come down to reasonable levels that we all can afford? Increase supply. Increasing the supply of energy sources is the only way to make the price go down in any meaningful and real way.
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In 2004, 40.3 percent of all families had a participant in an employment-based retirement plan (either a defined benefit or defined contribution plan) from a current job.
Families with a 401(k)-type plan reached 73.5 percent in 2004, up from 66.5 percent in 2001 and 31.6 percent in 1992. (EBRI.org)
Remember it wasn't that long ago that Ted Kennedy hatched a plan to hit all retirement accounts with a one time tax (15%?). But it failed to ever come to a vote.
Kennedy still has his raid on retirement via the windfall profit tax on oil companies but 75% of America is paying for it in lost dividends.
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