The petition
The US government controls all licensing of new oil refining capacity. The US government refuses to allow an additional oil refining capacity on US soil or US territories. The US government is effectively creating an illegal monopoly condition for the oil companies which refine gasoline for consumption in the US market.
Current US refinery capacity runs at almost 100%. In any other industry, when capacity is fully consumed by demand and the price of goods continue to rise, new competitors enter the market. In the case of refinery capacity, permits to enter as a new entity are controlled by the US government, and are not issued to any business entity at this time, allowing oil company profits to skyrocket at the expense of the American people.
Where governments allow and support monopolies, such as local utilities, there is also a check to keep the public interest in balance. That check is a PUCO (Public Utilities Commission) which reviews profitability and pricing of all government sponsored monopolies. No such accountability is forced onto the oil companies, the American people simply have to pay.
The US government is accountable to the American people and must either protect the interest of the people who stand to be victimized by the current illegal monopolistic / ologopolistic which operates at the convenience of the US government with no accountability, or the government must allow additional refining capacity to support the US market.
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