Nations should impose special taxes on oil firms: UN Secretary General

[Cryptomultiplier]

We have seen cases in which after taxes has been imposed, the companies go ahead to adjust price or reduce quantity so as to make up for the tax they paid. Oil is a very necessary commodity for everyday living and as such lessons need be learned from the Russian/Ukrainian war In how over dependence on one source for oil and gas can lead to inflation for those dependent countries all over Europe. A friend of mine was of the notion that  creating competition so as these companies understand the value of preference is valid.
If the UN secretary general imposes the special tax on these oil firms, the final consumer gets to bear the brunt. If more oil firms are built, the need to impose special taxes will be almost unnecessary.

[justdimin]

Fossil fuels are usually heavily subsidized by the state.



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/crNVFJ5/oil-subsidies.jpg

https://subsidizinggreen.blogspot.com/2011/12/history-of-subsidies-in-united-states.html

Rather than raise taxes. In the united states, it would make more sense to simply cut subsidies.

Giving free handouts to oil companies in the form of subsidies while simultaneously raising taxes on oil. Increases inefficiency.

People don't care about this that much. They think it doesn't affect them. But one day they will wake up and realize it does greatly affect them and their standard of living. And hopefully they will take this issue more seriously then.

If the subs given to them gets cut, then there will be some of them who will hold the political parties responsible for it and increase their price. It is like a blackmail, give us some money so we give the oil for cheaper, and if you do not do that, there will be double of that coming out of people’s pockets.

What should be done instead is regulation. If you end up saying "this is the max price you could sell a gallon of oil for" then it will be fine, our nation does that and it works. Sure, it makes oil companies make less profit, but they do make a profit and that’s what business should suppose to be, making profit, not skinning the milk out of everyone that have to pay.

[Kakmakr]

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will only increase the oil price to absorb the taxes that they have to pay. They are the giants who are making the rules for the different governments.  

I will rather put pressure on governments to remove all the fuel levies and fees and taxes that are added to the petrol and gas prices ....that are one of the main factors that are inflating the fuel prices.  

[inthelongrun]

Most of the time the most popular brands are used as examples. The biggest oil companies nowadays are not all controlled by the west but by China and who will miss Saudi Arabia's giant Aramco?

There are a lot of replies already and pretty sure it's mentioned too that putting an additional tax on these giant companies will only make them raise their oil prices too. In the end, it is the common people that will suffer and pay the imposed additional tax.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will only increase the oil price to absorb the taxes that they have to pay. They are the giants who are making the rules for the different governments.  

I will rather put pressure on governments to remove all the fuel levies and fees and taxes that are added to the petrol and gas prices ....that are one of the main factors that are inflating the fuel prices.  

The problem is most government officials are not serving the huge chunk which is the ordinary people but they are serving these giant companies and powerful people that funded their campaigns or influenced their appointments.   

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on nations to impose special taxes on oil and gas companies because of this excessive profits and use the funds to support the poorest and most vulnerable people  through these difficult times.

While this might sound all nice and liberal, it's a fucking horrible idea.  Taxes shouldn't be used as a political weapon, to redistribute wealth, or to do anything other than fund the government, and if increases are needed because of the need for more money, then those increases ought to be fair and rational.

The "excessive profits" phrase really got me there.  In whose eyes is any profit excessive?  That's something only a socialist would say.

The problem is most government officials are not serving the huge chunk which is the ordinary people but they are serving these giant companies and powerful people that funded their campaigns or influenced their appointments.   

That's true--and it's very fucked up--but that doesn't mean the idea of taxing corporations when their profits happen to be extraordinary is a good one.  Or a fair one.

[dothebeats]

If countries impose more taxes on oil firms, wouldn't this result to higher gas prices too? I mean, it is unfortunate that these things are happening across the globe, but I bet that oil firms don't really want this to happen (except those Russian dudes lol). Also, what's the gurantee that these special taxes would be put to good use? If anything this can fund the pockets of the corrupt government official and leave not a single penny to the common man.

[Die_empty]

I certainly agree with it. Only ordinary people would suffer from it because the prices of our daily necessities would increase either. It will make our situation worst. The inflation crisis has been hitting us hard and if they will tax oil, it will only drag us suffer more than what we could bear. Most of us are just grinding each day to survive and this plan will surely hit poor people.

But these companies are making a hell lot of profit. The government can insist that they should not increase the price of there products and still pay these special taxes. If the activities of this firms are not regulated, these companies can instigate instabilities in more countries because they know they would make profit from those conflicts. There should be a way of making them give support to the suffering masses.  

[Ozero]

Yeah, tax the rich I mean the oil firms and see how they will just increase the price to cover back their loss in tax. After the covid pandemic, I have a strong distrust for all of the UN officials because most of them still keep their seats at the UN but doing a shitshow of it. How about we fire them, reduce the UN contribution then use that money to subsidize fuel/oil prices till Russia and Ukraine war sort out? At best, maybe 6 months from now on till Russia is out of their tanks, supplies, and conscripts. What do you guys think? I think it sounds better than increasing tax on the oil firms.

At least the UN is already expressing some unrealistic proposals for implementation, and not only its deep concern and verbal condemnation of the illegal actions of other states. Even in this case, we see that the UN has no real powers, and therefore this organization has long been outdated and is subject to either liquidation or a radical transformation. Now the world needs an international organization with great powers and lightning-fast reaction and efficiency.
Most likely, in this case, it is necessary to oblige the oil giants not to exceed the price of oil by more than a certain fixed amount, because raising taxes will not lead to the desired consequences.

[Poker Player]

While this might sound all nice and liberal, it's a fucking horrible idea.  Taxes shouldn't be used as a political weapon, to redistribute wealth, or to do anything other than fund the government, and if increases are needed because of the need for more money, then those increases ought to be fair and rational.

The "excessive profits" phrase really got me there.  In whose eyes is any profit excessive?  That's something only a socialist would say.

In the end it is a socialist measure offered as a solution to a problem created by socialism. The war has exacerbated the problem but the increase in energy prices started earlier, and it has a very clear solution: make it easier for companies to extract oil and compete with each other.

This is part of the more general problem of inflation, which also has a very clear solution, which always works: reduce government spending, lower taxes and raise rates as much as necessary, much more than they are now.

[Gozie51]

This is part of the more general problem of inflation, which also has a very clear solution, which always works: reduce government spending, lower taxes and raise rates as much as necessary, much more than they are now.

I don't think reducing tax is one sure way to fight inflation. Tax is one of the ways to check inflation that whether to reduce or to increase, so it can work in both ways. If the oil revenue is soaring for oil companies because of the wars and they are generating high income then the best way to shave some of those monies to avoid increase inflation is to push tax up for high income earners that will touch including those oil companies this can be in both ways. Likewise in interest rates it, the interest in borrowing can be increased to also decrease the cash flow.

[dezoel]

Oil prices are not determined by these companies, it is calculated based on what people are willing to pay for it. If people are willing to pay a lot to get it because we are lacking oil from a region, then the price would go up of course. This is what the free market is doing.

I am not saying we should regulate the price, I am saying we should charge them with a lot more taxes, when companies make 51 billion dollars in profit, that’s a lot, and if given the right other companies could do the same and these have nothing special about them. So, if 51 billion became 30 billion and that 20 billion went to building more houses or schools or hospitals, that would be fine by me.

[Die_empty]

You're basically advocating for punishing oil companies by imposing new taxes on them just because they turned more profit ? how is this even legal.

Going by your logic (or UN's logic for that matter), US should also tax apple,amazon or google if they happen to make more profit this year right ? 

I am of the opinion that nation should impose special tax on oil firm because they are deliberately making oil and gas scarce. There is a report that oil firms are intentionally making gas or crude scarce because they want to make more profit. There was news by Aljazeera that dozens of tankers carrying about $2bn worth of natural gas are slowly sailing around northwest Europe and the Iberian Peninsula because they are holding out for higher market prices. They have been instructed by their parent companies to move slowly believing that colder weather will increase demand for energy and in turn drive up prices.

Is this not economic sabotage in the name of capitalism?

[Captain Corporate]

Special taxes? They are giving them money to help them make oil cheaper, while these companies take that money and then use it for lobbying and jack up their prices instead. Look at all the oil companies in the world right now, aside from the Russian ones, we are seeing them doing a lot better than any other year, and the prices of oil is high. Which is a proof that they are actually capable of dropping the price of oil anytime they want, not the oil as an investment one, but the gas you put in your car could be lowered in price, considering how much profit they made, they could just make a little less and we would all be living a better life.

[DrBeer]

I'll start from afar
1. The UN has completely discredited itself as an international organization. Starting from the failure to fulfill their direct obligations, ending with the deepest corruption, and even some barely concealed corruption ..
2. The oil market does not need to be regulated. Manual control rarely gives a positive result, especially when you do not control it at 100%. And that means one thing - you just need to remove inadequate players, or rather one. And the market itself is stabilizing. If there are no economic terrorist attacks, bribery, threats and pressure, the market will recover on its own and give consumers an adequate price.
But in any case, do not give this process to the corrupt UN!

[pooya87]

There was news by Aljazeera that dozens of tankers carrying about $2bn worth of natural gas are slowly sailing around northwest Europe and the Iberian Peninsula because they are holding out for higher market prices.

I'm not sure how true that is because these LNG supplies are heading for European LNG terminals and the problem there is that the unloading and conversion of LNG is going to take a lot of time which means there is a queue of tankers waiting to be unloaded simply because the terminal is busy!
In fact one of the reasons why gas price dropped was this. They got too desperate to sell their cargo faster that it created a fake "higher supply" slightly decreasing the price.

1. The UN has completely discredited itself as an international organization.

I'm glad to see others are catching on to this fact. Although it was clear from the day it was created back in 1945. Did you know that we were literary the first country to file the first complaint to UN? It was about the Allies after WWII and it was completely useless

[DrBeer]

1. The UN has completely discredited itself as an international organization.

I'm glad to see others are catching on to this fact. Although it was clear from the day it was created back in 1945. Did you know that we were literary the first country to file the first complaint to UN? It was about the Allies after WWII and it was completely useless

Unfortunately, the UN is a highly corrupt structure. I used to treat her somehow, if not positively, then neutrally. Probably because it did not concern me much, and they took some actions. But this year, the UN, as an international instrument of law and legitimacy, has shown itself not only as impotent, but moreover, how cowardly I am and an inferior organization. This applies not only to the UN, but also to some other international organizations, such as the Red Cross.

BUT ! It seems that with one hand they feed and try to play along, and the other is really afraid. There is an assumption that after a "convincing conversation" with the representatives of the United States and Britain, the UN decided that it was necessary to behave, if not "better", then more or less correctly. Today's vote on reparations to Ukraine from the Russian Federation showed some change in the behavior of the organization itself. The fear of survival won over the craving for corruption

[Sithara007]

If countries impose more taxes on oil firms, wouldn't this result to higher gas prices too? I mean, it is unfortunate that these things are happening across the globe, but I bet that oil firms don't really want this to happen (except those Russian dudes lol). Also, what's the gurantee that these special taxes would be put to good use? If anything this can fund the pockets of the corrupt government official and leave not a single penny to the common man.

Unfortunately, for the last few decades there has been a steady reduction in human IQ. Intelligent people are having less children and it is the drug addicts and alcoholics who are having them by the dozens. Obviously it is very clear that if the oil companies are taxed more, then the price of oil products such as diesel, gasoline and natural gas will also get costlier. But 90% of the ordinary people doesn't have the IQ to understand this. And that is the reason why politicians from the green and socialist parties get elected year after year.

[pooya87]

1. The UN has completely discredited itself as an international organization.

I'm glad to see others are catching on to this fact. Although it was clear from the day it was created back in 1945. Did you know that we were literary the first country to file the first complaint to UN? It was about the Allies after WWII and it was completely useless

Unfortunately, the UN is a highly corrupt structure. I used to treat her somehow, if not positively, then neutrally. Probably because it did not concern me much, and they took some actions. But this year, the UN, as an international instrument of law and legitimacy, has shown itself not only as impotent, but moreover, how cowardly I am and an inferior organization. This applies not only to the UN, but also to some other international organizations, such as the Red Cross.

BUT ! It seems that with one hand they feed and try to play along, and the other is really afraid. There is an assumption that after a "convincing conversation" with the representatives of the United States and Britain, the UN decided that it was necessary to behave, if not "better", then more or less correctly. Today's vote on reparations to Ukraine from the Russian Federation showed some change in the behavior of the organization itself. The fear of survival won over the craving for corruption

Nothing has changed bro. UN is as it has always been an American organization, it is literary in their law. Obama not only made this public but also ensured it to be unchangeable. The law dictates that UN is obligated to fulfill United States' interests at all times in all their actions and decisions!
So if you see they behave in a certain way, it is because US has ordered them to. And if that behavior changes, it is just the new orders, nothing more...

[batang_bitcoin]

I don't think that special taxes will help everyone from these increasing prices of oil. What UN must do is to pressure these companies together with the OPEC to do something to lessen the current price of oil that we're buying.
It's starting to be seen that there's no way they can do to mitigate the continuous price hike of oil products and with this, they're raking billions of dollars and they're boasting that. While a simple person like you and me, we suffer from their gains. Yeah, there's the war and etc, but I'm sure that there could be ways of at least decrease it a little by little.

[Gozie51]

While a simple person like you and me, we suffer from their gains. Yeah, there's the war and etc, but I'm sure that there could be ways of at least decrease it a little by little.

I think there are manipulation going on in the Oil sector the way I look at the issue. Even before the war in Ukraine, OPEC has threaten to short down supply of oil from member company and this war just escalated the tendencies for scarcity and this whole artificial thing of oil facilities being attacked and causing shortages making officials in charge to embezzle more of public wealth through oil.