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With the war in Iraq, oil production over there has had to start
incurring the costs of more security (labor) so that terrorists don't
destroy their production facilities which increases their costs of
production, and these costs are passed on to the consumer. Further,
with the effects of Katrina, oil production facilities will need
maintenance and repair (labor) before they can be back on line. And,
since most production facilities are producing at 95% to 100% capacity,
they (by the nature of production) need more labor in response to the
increase in demand. Plus, many scientists have noted that the best
crude in the world has already been depleted; all the crude that is left
takes more production (labor) to refine to a usable grade. I also doubt
that the workers in the Middle East, Venezuela, and other OPEC countries
receive anywhere near the value that they create, and anywhere near what
oil workers receive in America; hence, huge profits for the “oil
barons.” One might argue that these nations are not “capitalistic”
countries. However, they engage in trade with the United States,
Britain, and other predominantly capitalistic nations, so they engage in
capitalistic trade; capitalism does not know countries or nations, it
only knows exploitation. So, it is not the eternal tug-of-war between
supply and demand over scarce raw materials, but the underlying response
of the further exploitation of the laborer by the capitalist to meet
these demands that raises the prices of oil. |
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