the effect is the same, but how is it any different than say...a luxury brand that intentionally limits production to keep its prices high?
at some point, there will be a physical limit to capacity though. just like chip production, building a refinery doesn't happen overnight
Is it really the same thing? I mean I have never came across a point in my life that a luxury limited edition product (basically a collectors item bought by the rich to show their penis size) that nobody actually needs and can disappear tomorrow and would have zero effect on societies as society is not dependent on a luxury item for survivability. It's just a want, not a need. Gasoline is something nearly every person needs to live and survive in one form or another.
I find it interesting you use chip production as your example. Wasn't it not to long ago memory chip suppliers where I'm trouble for price fixing via limiting production and such to artificially inflate prices, which they plead guilty too?
HItting the physical production capacity limits is different than chosing to limit the production output. One is by choice and one is not. Chosing to purposely limit production to inflate prices technically can carry legal consequences such as fines and such for most consumer products, (computer memory for example) but why not gasoline, specially since it's more of a necessity that just a consumer product that people can go without?