The oil industry is hardly free to operate as efficiently as it could or to be as responsive to consumer demands as it would like. It has become, in essence, a quasi-state-run enterprise, because it cannot drill, transport, refine, and store fuel without receiving government permission, complying with government regulations, and paying taxes at every level or production.

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2009) - ISBN: 9781439164747