Hi, I'm Denise, and this is your civic minute.
When gas prices spike, you pay more, but where does that extra money actually go?
Oil was $66 a barrel in February before the Iran War.
By mid-April, it was over a hundred.
The price increase flows to whoever owns the oil.
In the U.S., it goes mostly to oil company shareholders through dividends, stock buybacks,
and reinvestment in drilling.
In Saudi Arabia, the government owns the oil, so it funds their spending.
In Russia, it flows to stake-controlled companies with close ties to Putin, helping finance
the war in Ukraine, and then there's Norway.
Their oil revenue goes into a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund that belongs to every citizen,
same oil, same price spike, very different outcome.
The price at your pump is set by a global market you can't control, but how a country uses
its oil wealth is a choice.
Some invest in their people, some enrich their shareholders, and some fund wars.
It's your civic minute.
Find more at civicmedia.us.
