FTCR's research has exposed manipulation of domestic refining capacity and inventories by American oil companies as the reason behind gasoline price spikes, not the traditional scapegoats of Big Oil: OPEC, government regulation, litigation, and environmental standards.

"In a commodities market, domestic oil companies know that the lower the inventories they keep, the higher the profits, because perceived shortages mean a speculative run-up in prices," said Jamie Court, president of FTCR and author of Corporateering: How Corporater Power Steals Your Personal Freedom and What You Can Do About It (Tarcher/Penguin.) "Big Oil rigs summer time driving season for big profits by keeping inventories low. Since Capitol Hill is complicit, it's up to states to enact laws that restrict profiteering through reforms like an excess profits tax, public utility regulation of refineries, and price controls. Big Oil may have Americans over a barrel now, but $3 per gallon gasoline should spur statehouses to take matters into their own hands. Every summer should not be open season for oil companies to gouge American motorists."

Recent financial statements show oil companies making new world record profits on top of last year's banner world record profits. Exxon Mobil's second quarter earnings jumped 35 percent over last year, Royal Dutch Shell rose 34 percent, ConocoPhillips shot up 51 percent.

###