A different approach to tackle the Gas Prices

[hdirish50]

<TT>I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by summer:mad2: and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.</TT>
<TT>This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us!</TT><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/<o:p></o:p>
<TT>By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.69 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace.....not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How?</TT><o:p></o:p>
<TT>Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.</TT><o:p></o:p>
<TT>Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people.</TT><o:p></o:p>
<TT>Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES. THIS CAN REALLY WORK</TT>

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

How old is that post, that gas was $2.69?

[RocsMerc]

How old is that post, that gas was $2.69?

I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES. THIS CAN REALLY WORKI guess it didn't work. lol
:lol:
By the way, I just payed $4.04 for premium today. The first time (and probably not the last) I ever hit the long fabled $4 mark.

[shawn.criswell]

I've seen this floating around the internet for a long time now. Forcing gasoline companies into a price battle won't resolve the real issue. All that will do is run one station out of business, or bought out, elimenating competition for cheap price. With that said they can have the same price at both stations and you have less choices of where to buy fuel. The real issue is the value of the U.S. dollar keeps falling whereas the market where the standard 45 gallon barrel of oil, which only roughly 20-22% is actually refined for gas, has only been on a slight price increase. We're still no where near what the Europeans are paying for fuel.

[TKde0]

...We're still no where near what the Europeans are paying for fuel.

But we will be if we elect one of the Democrat candidates... Most of the difference is in taxes that go to healthcare and public transportation. If you put their taxes on gas at the same level as our, the price would be the same. Plus, they have a lot less distance to drive when they go anywhere. It's not really a fair comparison.

[oldekid]

But we will be if we elect one of the Democrat candidates...So, why are the prices sky rocketing way prior to the November elections? Sorry, I think it's just a little early to blame the Democrats. Besides, the American military is a huge consumer of oil/fuel, especially during a time of war.

Now, think about what you just said.
:beer:

[drwhy]

If we are too stupid to drill for oil when we have it here in our own land, and too stupid to build refineries, we deserve to pay $10.00 per gallon.

[CanadaMarauder]

I just filled up at $1.41 per litre.. I think that converts to 6.10 a gallon!!!!! $4 a gallon is cheap!

[Aren Jay]

Another idea started by some independant gas station chain guy...

Anyway the other gas stations all buy from Shell and Esso/Exxon anyway so this is not going to work.

Also, the stations are not company owned, but franchises and the prices are set buy demand from the distribuators, not the stations, and the taxes.

Want cheaper gas, get your politicians to lower the taxes.

Taxes are not just income. They are everywhere only the politicians have hidden them better.

In Canada over the passed 30 years or so they, tax payers federation, have worked it out that while income taxes have gone down, taxes on everything else, but income taxes have gone up 1700%.

Now with new Recycling levies and carbon taxes, etc... it is set to go up even more.

[Bluerauder]

The real issue is the value of the U.S. dollar keeps falling whereas the market where the standard 45 gallon barrel of oil, which only roughly 20-22% is actually refined for gas, has only been on a slight price increase. We're still no where near what the Europeans are paying for fuel.

A barrel of oil is 42 gallons.

The whole barrel is refined and the result is 51.4% gasoline, 15.3% Fuel Oil, 12.3% Jet Fuel, and 21% other products (i.e. kerosene, asphalt, lubricants, etc.) Breakout is here for one source >>>> http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html

As to the price of a barrel of oil ... where have you been? --- "Crude prices have jumped about 80 percent over the past year, while retail gas prices are only up 24 percent in that time.

On Thursday (24 April 08) the benchmark light, sweet crude for June delivery stalled in its march toward $120 a barrel, falling $2.24 to settle at $116.06 on the New York Mercantile Exchange."

I cringe every time I hear the European comparison. The difference in our prices and theirs is caused by one thing .... Higher Taxes to pay for all of their social programs.

[Mike Poore]

FWIW, give a listen to what this man has to say. I know nothing about him or if he's telling the truth.....but, if you have time, he's worth hearing, or may be a total crock. :dunno:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=33402746971670 11147

[O's Fan Rich]

Don't forget that the profit margin per gallon of gas for the "Big Evil Oil Companies" is about 1.8%
The Federal Gov makes aprox 5.4% per gallon in taxes.

So... who's really the big inner in the price hikes?

[baltimoremm]

I just filled up at $1.41 per litre.. I think that converts to 6.10 a gallon!!!!! $4 a gallon is cheap!

1 US gallon = 3.78541178 litres
1.41/litre multiplied by 3.785=$5.33canadian for a gallon of gas
5.33 Canadian dollars = 5.25433532 U.S. Dollars

$5.25 is still a heck of a lot!

[Breadfan]

I cringe every time I hear the European comparison. The difference in our prices and theirs is caused by one thing .... Higher Taxes to pay for all of their social programs.

:beer: I feel the same way - there is no comparison. They pay that much b/c they want too. Sorry but that's true. And that may work for many European countries, they use some of that money to pay for their mass transit systems, which are possible if your country is the size of a medium-sized US state. We're too big for an extensive cross country gov't funded mass transit system.


Don't forget that the profit margin per gallon of gas for the "Big Evil Oil Companies" is about 1.8%
The Federal Gov makes aprox 5.4% per gallon in taxes.

So... who's really the big inner in the price hikes?

You are right, I don't think oil companies are the cause of what we are seeing. I don't think they're as "evil" as people make them out to be. From what I've read their profit margins are pretty weak compared to industry standards.

Hopefully there are no un-needed restrictions being placed on the oil industry that restrict supply. For instance restrictions on new refineries, transportation methods, new drilling etc. All within reason of course, but choking back R&D needlessly will cause problems for consumers by artificially impacting the market. Give spontaneous chaos a bit of a chance...

[Black_Noise]

Open the friking Alaska pipeline

[Dr Caleb]

If we are too stupid to drill for oil when we have it here in our own land, and too stupid to build refineries, we deserve to pay $10.00 per gallon.

Drilling won't change anything. There is no glut of crude on the market, it's a glut of refined gasoline, because refineries are at 82% capacity of their refining capabilities.

And there hasn't been a new refinery built in almost 30 years, anywhere in North America.

[quota]

Don't forget that the profit margin per gallon of gas for the "Big Evil Oil Companies" is about 1.8%
The Federal Gov makes aprox 5.4% per gallon in taxes.

So... who's really the big inner in the price hikes?[/quote]


I agree. Every increase made by the Oil Companies translates into higher revenues for the Government. So the question is "who is in control ?"
JP

[offroadkarter]

The chinese keep sucking down gas like soy sauce, this also affects the cost of gas.

There is a big deposit of oil in alaska, but the stupid enviromentalist wont let us drill there because it will be clubbing baby seals to death. Although we have the technology to have an eco-friendly pipeline and such.

[ctrlraven]

The US is still taking in the same amount of oil it was 10-20 years ago. The difference is the actual amount the Government is taking per barrel for the federal reserve.

I've been looking at some new property to move to, one place had a two car garage with a large shop (the size of3-4 semi trucks with trailers) towards the back of the property. If I can snag this place I will be buy some old diesel car and making a bio diesel conversion system. I only for see the price will keep going up and up and up.

Next thing you know areas where there is rarely crime will start to have an outbreak of it and already bad areas will be worse than ever.

[Mike Poore]

I've been looking at some new property to move to, one place had a two car garage with a large shop (the size of3-4 semi trucks with trailers) towards the back of the property. If I can snag this place I will be buy some old diesel car and making a bio diesel conversion system. I only for see the price will keep going up and up and up.

Careful, the Tax/Zoning man will smell the cooking oil and think you're running an illegal french fry business back there.

.....Oh, wait, that's BIDNESS, there in BALMER County, ain't it HON. :D

[Blk Mamba]

The US is still taking in the same amount of oil it was 10-20 years ago. The difference is the actual amount the Government is taking per barrel for the federal reserve.

I've been looking at some new property to move to, one place had a two car garage with a large shop (the size of3-4 semi trucks with trailers) towards the back of the property. If I can snag this place I will be buy some old diesel car and making a bio diesel conversion system. I only for see the price will keep going up and up and up.

Next thing you know areas where there is rarely crime will start to have an outbreak of it and already bad areas will be worse than ever.

IT won't be long till the chemicals, Etc. used to convert to Bio-D will be just as expensive as the big D, or gasoline, and you would have only had a few months relief, the only real winning idea is to take oil out of government, and government out of oil. Our fore-fathers told us to seperate church, and state, but didn't know how corrupt these two (govt. & oil) could make each other. We need to be protected from these two, but our only protection is these two, ironic that the ones we elect, and appoint to protect us, are the ones we should be most affraid of.

[BAD MERC]

Wanna hear semething asinine? Gas prices are up because we use soooo much right? Supply and demand? Well, I read in Forbes last month that for the first time in history, gasoline consumption has not only ceased to rise, it has leveled off and begun to decrease. So, now thet we have made it apparent that we will pay $4.00 a gallon - they have no reason to lower it. Kinda like oxygen - if you have to have it, you'll pay anything to get it. We are really just made love to. I wanted to say "***.KED" but big brother doesn't want the children here offended.

[Blk Mamba]

Wanna hear semething asinine? Gas prices are up because we use soooo much right? Supply and demand? Well, I read in Forbes last month that for the first time in history, gasoline consumption has not only ceased to rise, it has leveled off and begun to decrease. So, now thet we have made it apparent that we will pay $4.00 a gallon - they have no reason to lower it. Kinda like oxygen - if you have to have it, you'll pay anything to get it. We are really just made love to. I wanted to say "***.KED" but big brother doesn't want the children here offended.


I'm not a bit offended, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and "smells" like a duck, it must be a duck! And yes I do feel made love to, and not in a good way either.

[BAD MERC]

I'm not a bit offended, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and "smells" like a duck, it must be a duck! And yes I do feel made love to, and not in a good way either.

And you are precisely correct. Plain and simple - we are being taken for granted while the bigwigs are seeing billions in profits. Did you ever get the feeling that traffic light timing may be directly proportional to gas prices? I swear that red lights are every 11 feet when gas is high.

[larryo340]

I like the way Senator Schumer of NY said it in the NY Times:

“Congratulations to Exxon Mobil and Chevron — for reminding Americans why they cringe every time they pull into a gas station,” said Senator Charles Schumer (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/charles_e_schumer/index.html?inline=nyt-per), Democrat of New York.

Here's the link to the entire article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/01cnd-exxon.html?hp

[sailsmen]

Complain to the Citizens of CA and FL for banning drilling off their coast. The Feds have leased to the oil cos off the coast of FL and FL refuses to allow drilling.

80% off our coast is banned from drilling.

The average cost of a gallon of gas in the US in March 2008 is 10% less than the average cost in todays dollars than March 1982.

Big Gov't has collected over double in taxes (profits) over the past 20 years on taxes on gasoline then the oil cos have made in profits on gasoline.

Big Gov't owns the vast majority of US oil. Big Gov't is denying it's citizens access to the oil it's own Big Gov't owns.

Big Gov't prevents new refineries and expansion of existing refineries. CA turned down every request to build new or expand power plants for 8 years and then blames the power industry when there is not enough power.

Many in the influential enviro movment lobby Congress to implement a strategy to keep oil expensive to force us to use less. Many in the enviro movement beleive the Earth cannot not support more than 210 mm people w/o killing the Earth, see Ted Turner's comments. They believe they must kill us to stop us from killing the Earth. Cheryl Crowe wants you to use one sheet of TP to wipe your a** and 2 gallons of water + soap to wash out and reuse that sheet of TP.:D

[BAD MERC]

I live in South Florida and I don't give a crap if they wanna drill for oil in my kitchen sink. This expensive gas is DESTROYING the economy. Everything goes up in price. Truckers overload their trucks by 1.5% to move more with less trips and it seems the the IRS is gonna give everybody a little kiss that I believe will only make things worse.

[justbob]

Is this our future? http://video.aol.com/video-detail/1970-duramax-diesel-chevelle/3874817823

[larryo340]

I'd take it, betcha that thing moves :burnout:

[justbob]

I'd take it, betcha that thing moves :burnout:
I seen it built a couple years ago, it does!

[Cordoba1]

The old "blame game," eh? Oil is bought and sold on the stock market. Don't blame the oil companies -- they don't control the cost!

The problem is being exacerbated by oil being priced in dollars. The dollar is sliding against all the major currencies. Since oil has an "intrinsic" value, the price of a barrel of oil has to rise when the dollar falls to be in sync with its intrinsic value.

Most economist are unable to explain why oil is over $100/b when it was only $20/b not that long ago. Most also agree that oil on the market is one of the biggest bubble-markets of our time - but nobody has been able to predict when the bubble will bust. Market fundamentals have not changed and "the experts" all agree that oil should be priced closer to $80/b.

And finally, Gasoline, even with its shortcomings (carbon dioxide emissions, geopolitical issues around oil, etc), is a marvelous motor-fuel. It is easy to transport, the real tailpipe emissions are easy to clean, it is relatively safe, and you just can't beat the energy content per unit. It'll be around for some time. Battery and alternative fuels research is really starting to step up. (The US Government recently raised the Corporate Average Fuel Economy rating that manufacturers must meet for the first time since the 1970's and companies are clamoring to figure out how they are going to meet the new targets.) Gasoline as a motor vehicle fuel will be replaced someday -- but mainstream motoring will continue to run on gas for a couple of more decades.

[Cordoba1]

Oh - and one final note. I'm a believer in having the government pay for important infrastructure: Water, Electricity, Roads, etc... I'd support a federally built and operated refinery!

[larryo340]

The old "blame game," eh? Oil is bought and sold on the stock market. Don't blame the oil companies -- they don't control the cost!

True, they don't control the cost. They do control the selling price, and with record profits each quarter how could we not blame them.

[sailsmen]

Oh - and one final note. I'm a believer in having the government pay for important infrastructure: Water, Electricity, Roads, etc... I'd support a federally built and operated refinery!

We the tax payer is paying for one half the cost of ethanol refineries.

[TAKEDOWN]

Seen prices at $4.04, I paid $3.99 for premium, just outside of Chicago!!!

[dreydin]

this **** makes me sick

[sd8683]

Well we've gotten to the point where $3 a gallon is a good price, does anyone think there's hope in the future for cheaper has prices.

[FordNut]

True, they don't control the cost. They do control the selling price, and with record profits each quarter how could we not blame them.


Oil company profit margin is around 10-11%, nothing spectacular. Coca-Cola's is 20%. What a rip-off, we ought to be outraged! 20% profit margin for sugar-water.

[oldekid]

Well we've gotten to the point where $3 a gallon is a good price, does anyone think there's hope in the future for cheaper has prices.I doubt you will ever see $3 a gallon again. The powers to be won't be happy until we are paying prices equal to the rest of the world. We have been spoiled for too long, and I think the writing is on the wall.
:bigcry:

[SC Cheesehead]

True, they don't control the cost. They do control the selling price, and with record profits each quarter how could we not blame them.



Oil company profit margin is around 10-11%, nothing spectacular. Coca-Cola's is 20%. What a rip-off, we ought to be outraged! 20% profit margin for sugar-water.

^^^^^^^ +1 ^^^^^^^
Oil company's profit margins have been between 9-11% for the last six to eight years.

Get the price of crude oil to come down, and the cost of gasoline will drop as well.

Offshore drilling, ANWR drilling, and more refining capacity would help as well.

SCCH

[sailsmen]

Blame Big Gov't who owns the oil and will not let the oil cos drill. Blame Big Gov't who collects more in taxes on a gallon of gas then the oil cos make in profits on a gallon of gas.

Blame Exxon for controlling only 3%! If Exxon controlled 30% we could hold Exxon responsible, but Exxon is too stupid to control the price of oil! Exxon is so stupid they paid fishermen money for fish they never caught! Exxon is so stupid they passed the cost of that dumb mistake on to the consumer.

[ParkRanger]

Feb. 1, 2008

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company _ $40.6 billion _ on Friday as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at the end of the year.

Exxon also set a U.S. record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, beating its own mark of $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil had in 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, they hovered around $90 a barrel, more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

Crude prices reached an all-time trading high of $100.09 on Jan. 3 but have fallen about 10 percent since then.

The record profit for the October-December period amounted to $2.13 a share versus $1.76 a share in 2006. Year-ago net income was $10.25 billion.

Also extraordinary was Exxon Mobil's revenue, which rose 30 percent in the fourth quarter to $116.6 billion from $90 billion a year ago. For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion _ the most ever for the Irving, Texas-based company _ from $377.64 billion in 2006.