It’s Trumpian shades of Elizabeth Warren and AOC again. 
Trump this morning
Truth Social: Mike Wirth, Chairman and CEO of Chevron, just gave, in an interview with the fabulous Maria Bartiromo, all of the reasons that his company is doing so well. The only thing he conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability, of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD! As an example, they threw Mike and Chevron out of Venezuela, but now they’re back, far bigger and stronger than ever before, expecting to make a fortune! That goes for other Oil Companies as well…and get your consumer (retail!) Oil Prices DOWN, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT
Aug 03, 2026, 7:50 AM
Trump This Afternoon
Trump says there’s nobody bigger than him as a free enterprise guy.
” I don’t like it. They are making too much money. I should be the last one to say it because I am a big free enterprise guy. Nobody bigger. … Chevron, too much money. Exxon Mobile, too much money. They ought to give some of that back to the public.”
Breakdown of What Drives Pump Prices
Retail gasoline prices typically consist of these main components (percentages vary over time and by region, based on U.S. Energy Information Administration data):
- Crude oil (~50-60%): The largest factor. Crude is a globally traded commodity priced on international markets based on supply and demand. Events like geopolitical tensions, OPEC+ decisions, production levels, and economic growth heavily influence it. eia.gov
- Refining costs and profits (~15-20%): Refineries process crude into gasoline. This includes operational costs, margins, and occasional disruptions (e.g., hurricanes or maintenance). Refiners are largely “price takers,” responding to market conditions rather than dictating final prices. afpm.org
- Distribution, marketing, and retail costs/profits (~10-20%): Transportation from refineries to terminals and stations, plus station operating expenses (labor, rent, credit card fees, etc.). Most gas stations are independently owned (major oil companies own very few—often less than 5%). Retailers set their own pump prices to stay competitive while covering replacement costs for the next fuel delivery. api.org
- Taxes (~15-25% or more): Federal excise tax (18.4 cents/gallon) plus varying state and local taxes/fees. These differ significantly by location (e.g., much higher in California than in some Southern or Midwestern states)
Who Actually Decides the Price You See?
- Retail station owners/operators set the final price at the pump. They buy wholesale gasoline (often from distributors linked to refiners) and adjust based on local competition, wholesale costs, volume sold, location, and the need to afford the next delivery. Prices can vary block-to-block due to these factors. usoga.org
- Upstream players (oil producers, refiners, wholesalers) influence wholesale costs but don’t directly control retail pricing.
- Market forces (supply/demand, futures trading, global events) drive the biggest swings. No central authority or cartel sets daily U.S. pump prices.
In short, it’s a free-market system where thousands of independent decisions and global dynamics interact. Stations compete fiercely, which helps keep margins thin at the retail level (often just cents per gallon after expenses). Prices rise or fall as costs propagate through the chain—retailers react more than they dictate.
Gouging Claim Silliness
- Retail stations (mostly independent) set the pump price. They buy at wholesale, and their margins are thin. They adjust based on replacement cost (what they’ll pay for the next load), local competition, and operating expenses—not just today’s crude spot price.
- There are built-in lags in the system: Crude → refining → distribution → retail. Wholesale gasoline prices (RBOB futures, etc.) move faster than pump prices. When crude drops sharply, it can take days or weeks for the full effect to reach consumers, especially with inventory already in the pipeline.
- “Gouging” claims like this are common from politicians on both sides when prices don’t drop instantly. But evidence of widespread illegal gouging is rare; it’s usually just market dynamics (supply chain timing, regional differences, taxes, retailer caution during volatility).
Gasoline is a complex, decentralized market. Blaming “Big Oil” is ridiculous.
But hey, if you like Elizabeth Warren and AOC you should be cheering Trump today.
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January 10, 2026: Trump to Set Credit Card Interest Rates, Adopts More Elizabeth Warren Ideology
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Iran “Begging for a deal”:
https://x.com/i/status/2084454604788642104
Trump flirting with AOC is not something new, it has happened before a few times. And when he saw her in the NY parade with that Indian colonialist, something clicked inside him pretty bad.
“We estimate approximately 6 million tons of polyethylene capacity or around 20% to 25% of Middle East supply sustained damage from the conflict and will not restart until at least 2027.” (CEO & Executive Director Vanacker)
“But hey, if you like Elizabeth Warren and AOC you should be cheering Trump today.”
LOL. He can easily turn on a dime and start saying the exact opposite thing the same day!
As an investor with a primary focus on energy, I have mentioned several times here that when oil or gasoline prices get too high, and oil companies start making record profits, then governments often bring in windfall profits taxes. This happened after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The UK and several European countries enacted windfall profit taxes.
In the US, Biden did NOT bring in a windfall profits tax. He decided to tap 180 mb from the SPR to help get oil and gasoline prices lower. He let the US oil industry benefit.
In 2026 Trumps war with Iran has caused a mess in the oil markets and prices shot up again. He has already tapped the SPR, but that is almost done now. He has also talked prices down by repeatedly insisting that the war was almost done, and a deal was about to be signed. His next step “could” be to bring in a windfall profits tax.
That’s “one” of the reasons I am invested more in Canadian oil stocks, than US oil stocks. I do not expect Carney to bring in a windfall profits tax (though I would have expected that from Trudeau).
One interesting aspect today is that oil is not very expensive, but gas and diesel prices are high in comparison. This is because there is a bigger shortage of gas and diesel compared to oil. This is a refinery problem.
It starts with the Persian Gulf. While some oil is still getting out, very little gas and diesel are exiting. 3.5 mbpd of refined product are not being refined as several refineries have been shut down for several months now.
Next is Russia. Ukraine has been hitting their refineries and Russia has lost 2 mbpd of refining output. As such, they have stopped all diesel exports. Normally Russia provides 11-12% of the world’s diesel. On the plus side, Russia is trying to export the oil that can’t be refined in the compromised refineries. This extra oil helps lower oil prices, while the lack of diesel exports, raise the global price for diesel.
Third is China. China banned gas and diesel exports for several months (though they are now allowing some exports again). China normally exported up to 1 mbpd of refined products. As a result, China stopped importing around 4 mbpd of oil (2 mbpd for refiners, and 2 mbpd to the Chinese SPR). Again, this helped keep oil prices down, while gas and diesel went up globally.
In the US, gasoline inventories are 6% below the 5 year average and diesel inventories are 12% below the 5 yr avg. But it isn’t because of a refinery problem in the US.
US Refineries are making as much gas and diesel as possible because the crack spread is at historically high levels. Normally, refiners earn about $10-$20 per barrel of oil refined into gas and diesel. Today that number is $60. And a lot of this gas and diesel is being exported because the world is so short on these products. And NO, the refiners don’t get to set the price; they are price takers selling into the market for whatever people will pay them.
Another possibility, is for Trump to put in an export ban (like China and Russia did). This is less likely and would actually be very counterproductive. But then, the war on Iran was also very counterproductive.
More verbal vomit by our deranged taco.
What mephitic irony that at the 250th anniversary of our founding, our ruling figurehead is the epitome of everything the Founding generation tried to guard against in designing the Constitution and the libertarian spirit with which it was created.
No, it isn’t!
If it were a free market, then the worldwide price of a barrel of oil would not be the same.
The USA costs to pump a barrel of oil out of the ground did not change after the Feb attack on the Iranian Regime. There was no sudden shortage of oil in North America.
Yet the wholesale commodity price changed everywhere to the same level. WHY?
Our prices should have stayed the same as they were!
Look up the word fungible and then come back and apologize.
Very bold to assume Jojo the circus monkey can read.
Why would you assume that crude production costs in one location influences the local sales price of a globally traded commodity? If prices are higher elsewhere the cheaply produced oil will get sent there for higher profit. That will continue until the local sales price has risen enough to stop the outflow. That is what happens in a free market.
He is growing desperate as the mid-terms approach, cost of living is going up and there is no exit in sight for the quagmire he dove into head first with Iran.
He is so out of options that the military leadership is asking the troops for suggestions on how to punish and pressure Iran.
So yeah, him trying to pressure the oil companies to lower prices is not an unexpected thing for him to do. That is what fools do when they don’t know what else to do.
meanwhile: Speaking of withdrawal, I was more than a little surprised to see Joe Kent’s views featured at Fox News:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-declare-iran-victory-withdraw-troops-former-counterterror-official-argues
Fom Fox on the pause in U.S. attacks on Iran that I found uncharacteristically subdued in tone:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-declare-iran-victory-withdraw-troops-former-counterterror-official-argues
Perfect. Let’s “finish the job”. And let’s start by defining what “the job” is: regime change / strait open again / nuclear power control / sooth Trump’s ego / enrich Trump’s cronies / obey netanyahu / other / etc. It would be silly to start a war without clear objective. But of course Trump is the silliest of silly, so here we go.