What Would Rockefeller Do in Today's Oil Boom?

So, WWRD -- What Would Rockefeller Do?

He would probably shut in production until he had proper infrastructure to get it to market, and support an even-higher price for crude than we presently have. He would probably be in control of some of these pipeline companies, like Kinder Morgan (KMI), TransCanada (TCP) and Enbridge, which is traded in Toronto as ENB.

He would be keeping that oil off the market until politicians let him get pipeline capacity out there. And he would be ruthless with the smaller operators who are flaring all that money into the sky, probably by controlling railroads such as the Canadian Pacific (CP), which Seeking Alpha calls a good investment.

Unfortunately, Rockefeller is dead. The things he did in the 19th century are now said to be illegal. Politicians lack the will to push out the pipelines over environmental objections, and the power to make oil operators wait for them.

In the face of its latest boom, the oil industry looks as helpless as ever to control its greed in the name of efficiency, and billions of dollars are being flared into the sky.

If this is the market, maybe profit needs a cartel instead.

At the time of publication the author had no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

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