Break up "Big Oil"?

This article in TCS Daily discusses - and refutes - the recent proposal by Sen. Schumer, et al to break up the "monopoly" of the big oil companies in the US:

"The problem with this way of thinking is that the oil majors are not as all-powerful as their critics assert. They certainly do not hold a monopoly position in the marketplace. Big Oil is indeed big -- ExxonMobil, for instance, is the 6th largest publicly traded company in the world, and enjoys the highest revenues -- but it is not that big when compared to the entire world petroleum market, which is gargantuan.

The real giants are the state-owned oil companies in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, and other OPEC nations. Compared to them, Big Oil seems like small fry. As Red Caveney of the American Petroleum Institute noted, 'Nearly 80 percent of the world's reserves are owned by these national oil companies and a mere 6 percent are controlled by investor-owned companies.'"

It's always hard to justify 'feel good solutions' when the facts get in the way!