Both plans, though differing with each other on some points, seek to advance the interests of the big oil monopolies against working people at home and abroad. They scapegoat the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for rising oil prices rather than telling the truth about the U.S. oil companies that continue to rake in higher than ever superprofits.

Declaring, "America, more than ever, is at the mercy of foreign governments and cartels," Republican candidate George W. Bush is calling for opening up for oil exploration 1.5 million acres in the heart of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He asserts that this area, which "could hold over 35 percent of current total proven U.S. oil reserves" could "replace the oil that the U.S. now imports from Iraq." Four previous efforts over the past 13 years have been raised in Congress to drill in this area, with all of them having gone down to defeat.

Bush also called for "aggressively [exploring] for oil and gas on our own continent" and streamlining the regulatory process for building new refineries and pipelines. He also promised "to use more diplomatic muscle in dealing with Middle Eastern oil producing nations" while seeking "more cooperation on energy with Mexico and Venezuela," according to a New York Times article.

Like Bush, Democratic presidential candidate Albert Gore also put forward a plan aimed at achieving "energy independence." Gore expressed his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic refuge, and called for the government to release some of the oil stockpiled in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. One day later on September 22, U.S. president William Clinton released an initial 30 million barrels of crude oil, and left open the possibility that a similar amount may be released in October. The reserve, which holds 570 million barrels of oil, serves as a stockpile for the U.S. imperialists to use in times of war or other such "national" emergencies. European Union members are also considering a similar use of emergency reserves as a stopgap measure to reduce prices.

In promoting his energy plan Gore demagogically proclaimed that as president he would "work toward the day when we are free forever of the dominance of big oil and foreign oil." Some 44 percent of U.S. crude oil--about 6 million barrels a day--is domestically produced, and 56 percent is imported.

Gore, Bush, and Richard Cheney, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, all have long-standing ties to the giant oil companies. And these companies generously fund both of these capitalist parties, which defend these oil monopolies' profits at home and abroad. Albert Gore's family, for example, owns at least a quarter of a million dollars' worth of stock in Occidental Petroleum and has maintained a long-standing political and economic relationship with the company.

Bush and his family have longtime ties to major oil companies based in Texas. Cheney was the chief executive of the world's largest oil-fields services company.

Oil prices have trebled over the past 18 months to about $30 a barrel. In fact it traded for as much as $37.80 on September 20. The price boost has had the most devastating effect on workers and farmers, especially in some of the poorest countries most exploited by imperialism  
 
Monopolies control output, distribution
While capitalist politicians rail against OPEC as the cause of the price rise, it's the giant U.S. oil monopolies led by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco, as well as British Petroleum-Amoco-Arco, and Royal Dutch/Shell whose monopoly of the vast majority of oil production, refining, and distribution have the biggest impact on setting world oil prices. Exxon Mobil's net income, for example shot up to $4.5 billion in the second quarter of 2000, from $1.9 billion a year earlier--a 136 percent increase.

The 11-member nations of OPEC--Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Indonesia--have sought a greater share of the oil wealth that's produced in their countries. It was one of the means, growing out of the nationalist upsurge in the 1950s through 1970s, to gain a measure of sovereignty and control of natural resources dominated by imperialist powers. The capitalist classes that dominate these countries, though, do not organize to utilize these resource for the benefit of working people.

Despite the large share of exports they control, OPEC does not dictate world market prices nor dominate world supply and demand for this raw material. In fact, OPEC has agreed to increase production three times this year by a total of 3.2 million barrels. But these steps have had a negligible effect on world oil prices.

At the end of September, leaders of the OPEC-member nations met in Venezuela for the organization's first summit conference since 1975. The final declaration of the gathering called on governments in Europe and the United States to take steps to reduce oil prices by cutting gasoline taxes and reducing the debt owed by these Third World countries to banks in the imperialist countries. Gasoline taxes are extremely high in Europe. In the United Kingdom, for example gasoline costs more than $4 a gallon with taxes comprising 80 percent of the price.

At the summit, an Iraqi proposal for OPEC to endorse lifting the UN trade embargo imposed after the Persian Gulf War was blocked by the representatives from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Saudi Arabian government also broke with other OPEC members on production quotas, at the urging of Washington, announcing that they plan to unilaterally boost oil production to "the amount necessary to stabilize the world market," stated Crown Prince Abdullah. This announcement came shortly after the minister from Venezuela had stated that further attempts by Washington or the European Union to dip into strategic oil reserves would be met by cuts in OPEC production quotas.

Ali Rodriguez, Venezuela's minister of energy and now president of OPEC, pointed out that releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would only have a "temporary" effect on prices. He stated that rising prices are due largely to scarce U.S. refining capacity, not because of an actual shortage of oil.

In fact, U.S. refineries are running at virtually maximum capacity. Between 1982 and today, the U.S. oil companies failed to develop further refining facilities, while capacity utilization increased from 66 percent to 95 percent. Since 1990, some 30 refineries have been shut down in the United States and the number of refinery production workers dropped by one-third, from 95,000 to 60,000.

Though prices are at record levels, the big oil companies have not been plowing their money back into exploration, production, and needed storage facilities. As big oil's profits soar to record levels, working people around the world finding it increasingly difficult to eke out a living and make ends meet are responding with street protests, blockades, and other solidarity actions that transcend borders.