The Truth Behind High Fuel Prices - What Oil Companies Do Not Want You To Know! - Wouldn't it be great to be in business and have a product everyone needed? And what if within this enterprise your competitors were few and far between? Or better yet, what if you could arrange it so that in your utopia competitors were not even truly competing against you, but had some type of alliance that would benefit all of your pocketbooks? Interested? Well then, welcome to the United States of America's oil and petroleum business! This industry can be somewhat complicated, but is not difficult to understand. Does it make sense for our country and economy, which is fueled by oil and gas, to allow five oil companies to control 62% of the industry? These major oil companies are the explorers, producers, refiners, wholesalers, transporters and marketers/retailers of the oil and gas products. These few companies control the oil industry from the time they get it out of the ground until it reaches your home, car or business. Retail gasoline service stations owners and operators have filed countless lawsuits against oil companies in the past ten years. The result has been that Mom and Pop operations are virtually becoming extinct because in litigation big oil's pocketbooks just hold out longer than the station owners'. The owners have tried to look for help from governmental organizations designed to protect businesses and consumers. But the data points to our government's laissez faire attitude, and particularly to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice's approach to "protecting" consumers or business interests as they pertain to the oil industry.