Oil companies are primarily owned by the middle class.

Blaming the oil and gas companies for the state of the world, for wealth mongering or for being “big and bad” is probably equivocal to shooting yourself in the foot. In fact, playing the blame game with oil companies is one of the most misinformed things happening in society today. Here’s why:

Oil and gas consumer knowledge

First and foremost, just about everything we have and do is associated with oil and gas. It’s the primary driver of the global economy and it’s the primary product on the planet that makes things work and move. Without petroleum the world would come to a screeching halt. Things would not work. Things would not move. Things would not advance.

Without oil we wouldn’t have cars. Without oil we wouldn’t have plastics. Without oil we wouldn’t have a computer, or a smart phone, and not even a chair to sit at our desk.

Clearly, without oil the world as we currently know it would be nada, nothing, zip, zilch. That makes petroleum the most sought after hottest commodity on the planet. It’s really simple. Oil and gas is driven by global demand. Your demand, my demand and everyone else’s demand. So clearly, there’s nothing big or bad about putting gas in our cars and there’s nothing big or bad about the people who make that possible for us.

The end user, the consumer, is responsible for oil and gas use, production and demand. The consumer is spearheading petroleum use, its need, its availability, and its impact on the environment. It’s a complete misconception to think it’s the oil companies that are culprits in the big equation. It is not the people who explore and produce it that are responsible for oil and gas outcomes, it is the demand and use by consumers.

Who really owns oil companies?

Who owns the so called “big oil”. Big oil in North America is largely owned by the middle class. Oil companies are mostly public companies. So who owns them? Yes, the public. People like you and me who have invested in oil companies and major contractors across the globe as part of their investment portfolios.

“…across the oil and natural gas industry only 1.5 percent of shares of public companies are owned by company executives,” said study author Robert J. Shapiro, undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs under President Bill Clinton. “The data shows that ownership of industry shares is broadly middle class, with the majority of industry shares held by institutional investors, often on behalf of millions of Americans through mutual funds, pension funds and individual retirement accounts.”

Lets call it mis-informed, money jealousy, industry ignorance, fear mongering, environmentalist dramatization, media sensationalism or simple petty ignorance. It doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s still wrong. People own public companies and invest in public oil companies. It’s the people who own them.

Why would we pay attention to anyone discrediting oil companies when we already know that the majority of successful and often rich people admire other successful people. They support growth, advancement, abundance and in fact they encourage it in others. So who doesn’t support oil companies? Yes, that’s right, short sighted mis-informed people who may feel intimidated, jealous, or victimized by their circumstances and buy into “untruths” about oil companies.

Political understanding

And then there’s the mis-informed politicians who use this debate for political leverage. API Chief Economist John Felmy said. “When politicians seek to punish oil companies and ‘take their profits,’ they are not targeting industry executives but the hard-earned savings of working people.”

Currently, the federal Liberal government of Canada is planning to eliminate oil and gas incentives in order to bring in new energy regimes. Is this a good idea?

First, it’s going to take at least 10-20  years before we see a significant infiltration of new energy solutions that even come close to the economic viability of oil. Secondly, eliminating exploration and production incentives only shoots the middle class in the foot. This is because it lessens the number of international companies investing in Canada, who can get incentives and a lower cost of exploration and production elsewhere. Given that the middle class is the primary beneficiary of oil, eliminating incentives that attract investors to the resource and its potential, will most likely hurt our middle class.

Ultimately, we all have a responsibility to be informed about your energy future and what’s going to make it sustainable. Understanding the many factors and variables that influence our future is not justifiable, nor is blaming oil companies in any way.

This is the era of technology and anything we want to be informed about, we can be. Google is our guide and there’s an endless list of resources and credible sources available.

I stand by Benjamin Franklin’s belief when he says, “If you think education is expensive, you should try ignorance.”