The cost of fuel is ever climbing on a perpetual price ladder. The price of gas has doubled in the past decade and will continue to rise at an even faster rate than ever before. Why do gas prices continually swell? Who owns the oil being drilled and pumped from all over the world? Oil is a non-renewable resource owned by oiling companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron, BP, and other name brand gas providers. The prices are skyrocketing because of supply and demand. The world supply of natural oil is being syphoned and used every day at an alarming rate. Oil companies have gotten and are still getting their more than fair share of money for providing these fuels. In fact, these big oil companies have enough money to change their businesses almost over night. So why don't they, you might ask? The simple answer is that they are stubborn. Oil companies still see a profit to be made and seem to write off the pollution of machines and burden of the gas prices on every day citizens of the United States and the rest of the world. What am I proposing? Big oil companies have either nothing to lose or everything to lose depending on whether or not they choose to reinvent themselves to support alternative energy or stubbornly decline alternative energy to further pursue Earth's dwindling oil supply. Let's take a look at how oil businesses think and what drives their way of thinking. The supply of oil and natural gas is on the decline, especially for American oil companies. The land in the United States is not abundant with oil. In fact, between 80 and 90 percent of the world's known oil supply is controlled by countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. In 2006, Russia gained rights to the biggest oil field ever discovered -- Shtokton. Shtokton is located deep under and ice cap in the Bering Sea. " Shtokman alone contains sufficient energy to power all of Europe for several years…" (LeVine, 2008).The Russian oil company that gained rights to this massive oil field did not yet have the technology or know-how to drill it. Thus, Shtokton began operating as super market. Oil companies (including U.S. oil companies) from all over the world flocked to "dip their hands in the cookie jar," as some would say. This is one way that our oil companies kept making money even though it was obvious that natural oil reserves were running low. Russia was and still is paying foreign oil companies to drill the oil at Shtokton. Russia also gives the companies a cut of the oil. In essence, our major oil companies have a job, and when they get fired or laid off, our country and others will be in dire need of an alternative resource. Any oil rich country is capable of hiring big oil companies to drill for them in exchange for an oil company minimum wage which consists of a little oil and money. So what does happen when the work runs out or these countries hire someone else for cheaper? The big oil companies start to cannibalize one another in order to keep afloat. Desperate acts have been committed by oil giants in the past few years to keep the money coming in. In the past, oil businesses have been confused buy petrol-nationalism and needed to buy time until they figured it out. To keep their profits high, oil companies had to start combining and buy each other and other businesses. In 1974, Mobile oil purchased The Container Corporation of America as well as the Montgomery Ward department store chain. Mobile then sold these companies in 1986. Also in the 70's, Exxon resorted to making office equipment. Exxon created companies such as Vydec, Qwip, Qyx, and Zilog. Each small company made different things. Vydec specialized in word processors, Qwip manufactured fax machines, Qyx produced smart typewriters, and Zilog made microcomputers. Exxon sold Vydec, Qwip, Qyx, and Zilog. However, all of these companies still exist today. In 1973, Gulf Oil agreed to buy the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circuses.