The Nieman Watchdog web site has a list of questions for journalists who are covering higher gas prices to be asking. Oil industry analyst Tom Kloza calls for better depth in reporting, casts doubt on gouging, and recommends some independent, reliable sources for reporters.
Among Kloza’s questions:
Q. How much money does it cost the average oil producer to bring a barrel of crude oil to the market?
Q. How has technology impacted that price in the last fifteen years?
Q. When oil executives or politicians talk about “market forces,” exactly what are they talking about?
Q. How has the explosion of futures, options, and derivatives trading for energy impacted the price of crude oil and products such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil?
Read the rest here.
