MOTORISTS PUMPED AS OIL PROFITS ROCKET

29-04-2008

Shell and BP have just announced a giant leap in profits – thanks in no small part to rocketing petrol prices. Now, with garages in the West Midlands charging more than £1.10 per litre, internet campaigners are hitting back with calls for a boycott of two major oil companies.

According to figures released today, Royal Dutch Shell’s profits were $9 billion in he first quarter of the year – a leap of 25 per cent. BP also enjoyed a successful period raking in $7.6bn – up from $4.6bn.

More expensive natural gas prices haven’t harmed them, but it’s the cost of oil that’s er, fuelled, the huge hike in income – it broke through $100 per barrel barrier in January, and the head of Opec (the Organisation of Oil Producing Countries) estimates it will soon reach $200.

The rising price has been blamed on speculators and political uncertainty in the Middle East – in any event, it’s seen petrol reaching £1.10 per litre and above in the West Midlands.

Now web campaigner Philip Hollsworth is urging motorists to boycott two of Britain’s leading retailers Shell and Esso – whose parent company Exxon Mobil last year posted the largest annual profit in US history.

In a chain email hitting the nation’s inboxes he writes: “This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'don't buy petrol on a certain day campaign that was going around last April or May!

"The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT,whoever
thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.

"Please read it and join in!

"Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is CHEAP, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the market place not sellers.

"With the price of petrol going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their Petrol! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. Here's the idea:

"For the rest of this year DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two biggest oil companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP.

"If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's really simple to do!!

"Now, don't wimp out at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

"I am sending this note to a lot of people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!

"If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it...THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

"Again, all You have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all.(and not buy at ESSO/BP) How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8days!!! Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

"PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 69p a LITRE RANGE.

"It's easy to make this happen. Just forward this email, and buy your petrol at Shell, Asda,Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons Jet etc. i.e. boycott BP and Esso."