Or, how come the Exxon post 10 billion in profits per quarter. It's simple. There is a finite supply of oil. Currently they are extracting from fields in the mid-east. Those costs are pretty much stable and don't increase. However, demand has skyrocketed, thanks to CHina and India. So, if they spend $10 /barrel of oil to extract it, but demand pushes the sale price from $20 to $60, their profit triples. Isn't that simple? The thing is, if they lower their prices, supply won't be able to keep up with demand. So they say, anyway. And they are in no rush to increase refineries and therefore increase supply. So that's how they rig both sides of the equation. And when the oil runs out, and the oil companies have done shit to discover alternatives, the global economy will collapse. Here, capitalism doesn't really work. The oil companies have zero interest in increasing supply or looking for alternatives. And meanwhile they sing this song of 'conserve use', while jacking up the price of oil.