Kucinich: Oil co. profiteers pushing up gas prices

[Robbien]

May 15 - The record-shattering gasoline prices that Americans are paying at the pump are the result of two related factors, Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich charged today: the war in Iraq and the profiteering of major international oil companies.

"If we weren’t at war, American consumers wouldn’t be paying more than $2 a gallon for gasoline," Kucinich said, while campaigning in Oregon, where gasoline prices were reported as high as $2.43 a gallon. The war, the occupation, and a foreign policy that creates fear, uncertainty and instability throughout the Middle East have created concern in the world market that the violence will continue to spread and affect the supply of oil."

The result: crude oil reached a 21-year high of more than $41 a barrel. A year ago, it was trading at about $30 a barrel.

At the same time, Kucinich said, major oil companies are capitalizing on that uncertainty and are earning record profits. Five of the world’s largest oil companies had combined earning of more than $17 billion in the first three months of this year*.

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