Letter re Oil Prices

Letter published in the Daily News, April 6, 2007

Dow Jones' Market Watch reports that Chevron's CEO, David O'Reilly
received $27 million in stock options last week. Mr. O'Reilly also
serves as Chevron's chairman of the Board, which should be monitoring Mr. O'Reilly's performance as CEO. Meanwhile, gasoline prices march steadily toward $4.00 per gallon, and California drivers must cut back on other expenditures to finance Chevron's largess. The resultant diminished consumer spending saps energy from the economy. But why should Chevron, which produces 25% of California's gasoline care about serving the public by increasing production when reducing production increases profits obscenely? The real question is why our legislators will not loosen Big Oil's grip on consumer's wallets. One reason may be the recent junkets to Japan and South America that California legislative leaders have taken with energy officials.

Lloyd A. Dent
Studio City