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GAS PRICES!!!!

  • Thread starter fc3srx713b
  • Start date
  • #41
Yeah at the track I get 105 octane for about 6 bucks a gallon. My last track day cost me $80 bucks in gas alone. I can't belive I'm not dead broke.

Check your PM's Santos.
 
  • #42
87 = $3.42 and climbing almost every 3 days right now.
 
  • #43
You know, the sad thing about all this is that these price increases are NOT the result of higher crude oil prices. Those would only account for a TINY increase at the pump.

Instead, this is wholesale looting by the oil companies. Did you see the $400million retirement package the Exxon CEO got? Their profits are through the roof.

I agree with, who was it, Bruce? High gas prices CAN have a good effect. But not if the profits all go to oil company execs. In Europe and elsewhere, gas prices are high because it's taxed and the money used for actual services, roads, etc. So the public has a tangible benefit. There is no public benefit to a few oil company execs getting obscenely rich.

And not to get too political, but there are some big misconceptions about the goals of our foreign policy. Control of steady and voluminous supplies of oil in the middle east is NOT meant to reduce oil prices here at home. Unfortunately, the goal is to control supply in order to RAISE oil prices to help enrich oil companies who are big campaign contributors. Sad, but it's true.

Personally, I've parked the SUV and am driving a Scion that gets 30mpg.

Capslock
 
  • #44
This all makes me very, very glad I live within walking distance of the university and a grocery store. I haven't filled up since February, and it's still half-full.

Mokele
 
  • #46
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Capslock @ April 20 2006,6:53)]And not to get too political, but there are some big misconceptions about the goals of our foreign policy. Control of steady and voluminous supplies of oil in the middle east is NOT meant to reduce oil prices here at home. Unfortunately, the goal is to control supply in order to RAISE oil prices to help enrich oil companies who are big campaign contributors. Sad, but it's true.
Capslock
meanwhile, back in the real world...

gas prices rise and fall according by the laws of supply and demand. China and India are using more and more energy every year. (so is the USA and the rest of the world)
Gas supplies are down, The gulf-coast refineries are still not back up to full production. Oil production in other parts of the world is impaced by terrorism.

Increased demand + less supply = rising prices.

There is no gouging, there is no political conspiracy.
The president has nothing to do with it, and he cant change it.

its just simple economics.

Scot
 
  • #47
Actually in the real world, the oil companies are making record profits, gouging in every sense of the word.

This Exxon CEO just got a $400 million retirement package:
1027-06.jpg


I don't think it's a stretch to say they're gouging us at the pump if they can pay ONE guy this much just for retiring.

Capslock
 
  • #48
"There is no gouging, there is no political conspiracy."

meanwhile, back in the real world...

How do I as a mere citizen not involved in the backroom dealings in major corporations know this is a true statement? For all I know the oil companies are manipulating their supplies creating a shortage to increase their profit margin. Gas where I am has been going up about 5 cents per day. Why am I paying more each day for the same gas that was at the station the previous day for 5 cents less? It certainly didn't cost the company more - or are they charging me for storing it in their tanks?
 
  • #49
Exxon is only running at a 10% profit margine. Not really gouging at all.

100B in revenue 10B in profit.

Where companies like microsoft run at 25% profit...
40B rev. 10B profit.
 
  • #50
Ok, I'll be the first to admit I know squat about economics, but I've got a question: what does one *do* with 10 billion in profits?

Is the other 90 billion simply the direct cost of extracting, refining, etc, or does it also include aspects of the company less directly related to strict supply, such as R&D and prospecting? Does the 10B go right to the stockholders (I know dividends, but if the stock doesn't pay dividend, as some don't, and is based on perceived company value, where does the actual money go?) or get re-invested in R&D, marketing, prospecting, etc?

Also, with the salary that was mentioned, how can that really be justifed? In theory, the job market exists in terms of supply and demand, but can there *really* be such an imbalance between the supply and demand for CEOs? I have a hard time believing that, especially since I've seen what goes on in the boardroom of multinational companies via my father; monkeys could do better, in some cases.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Where companies like microsoft run at 25% profit...

Microsoft is also the purest source of evil in the know universe, so I'm not surprised. Though I must admit I'm astonished their stock doesn't crash every half hour or every time an investor tries to save
smile_m_32.gif


Mokele
 
  • #51
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Capslock @ April 25 2006,10:01)]This Exxon CEO just got a $400 million retirement package:
1027-06.jpg
Wow. I hope he'll at least donate a chin to charity or something.
 
  • #53
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Capslock @ April 25 2006,10:01)]This Exxon CEO just got a $400 million retirement package:
1027-06.jpg
Good... maybe he can afford to buy himself a neck now.
 
  • #54
I feel badly for people who are living paycheck to paycheck, or are on a fixed income, and can't really cope with the higher gas prices...

BUT...

I feel a deep sense of Schadenfreude for all those people who commute daily by themselves in an oversized SUV or mammoth pickup truck.
 
  • #55
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I feel a deep sense of Schadenfreude for all those people who commute daily by themselves in an oversized SUV or mammoth pickup truck.

Ditto.

I gotta go get some gas, I've gone about 333 miles on this tank... and now my mom tells me I need to drive my brother tomorrow... Cuttin' it real close. If you don't hear from me again, it's because I broke down in the middle of nowhere and was kidnapped by a hobo and sold south of the border.

:mortified:
smile_n_32.gif
 
  • #56
This is from an email I got...

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?
We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

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! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap.  Me too! It is currently $2.79 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?
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.

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.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE>>>>HUNDRED MILLION
>>>>PEOPLE!!!


Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?

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 TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK
 
  • #57
How will you even know which places sell gas produced by ExxonMobil? The sign isn't reliable.

Look at ways you use energy frivolously and stop doing it. The easy things to do are to stay closer to home and to combine trips. It's amazing how people in the highly urbanized area I live in can drive so many miles when so much is so close. But they like a store that's 15 miles away a little better than one that's one mile away. Or they don't combine trips. Those are simple changes, even if they might seem excruciating. Long term changes include living close to work and having smaller cars and homes.
 
  • #58
By the way, the few people like Rattler living on the dark side of the moon aren't the problem. It's the hundreds of millions who live and/or work in urbanized America who need to change.
 
  • #59
I keep reading that people should live closer to work, people should drive less, etc. Could someone kindly explain to me the basic logic in this. I don't know how it is where you live, but here in Fl. real estate prices have gotten absurd. Houses that 3 or 4 years ago were selling for $120,000 are now selling for 350 - 400,000. It doesn't seem like financially sound advice for me to move and up my house payments by hundreds of dollars a month to save a few tens of dollars in gas. I'm all for conservation, but I have to drive to the store and if its 15 miles away, its 15 miles away - I don't live in a bustling city where there is a Winn Dixie on every corner. I do combine trips - but isn't that just using the same amount of gas all at once as opposed to the same amount of gas on 3 different days? How about some realistic advice that a small town homeowner such as myself can actually put into use?
 
  • #60
When you break it down, there is really nothing you can do about gas prices. We put ourselfs in this situation by driving around in cars that get 6-7mpg. And we are to stubborn to car pool or use public transportaion. I still see people driving around in big H2's with their whole 3mpg. I'm not saying I'm any better b/c I drive around in a car that gets 6-9mpg. All I'm saying is that we put ourselfs here and now we can't complain.
 
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