Conventions

We’re out West again, and visiting with the WPMA. To you and me, that’s the Western Petroleum Marketers Association. Nervous looks and twitching hands seemed to abound at the show, and it wasn’t all because of last night’s losses at the craps table or roulette wheel. The petroleum industry has plenty to be nervous about right now, what with chaos ripping through North African and Gulf State oil-producing countries (guess which way prices went?); plus president-for-eternity Hugo Chavez in Venezuela honing his performance as the worst manager of oil wealth in the history of the Americas; and then of course voices on Capitol Hill beginning to nod resignedly at the mention of likely future gasoline taxes to dampen demand and curb “America’s dangerous oil addiction”. The only way this could get worse, some seemed to be saying, would be GM developing a wind-powered car…