| Author | Message | ||
     Mikej |
This is making the rounds once more in a new format. Gas prices around here are around $1.72/gallon. I know in other regions gas is much more expensive. For me I figure I'll just start riding my bicycle to work once I'm in a little better shape, which I'll get into by riding the bicycle more. But, anyway, here's an edited version of the email making the rounds this year. It will probably show up in your own email boxes sometime soon. yada yada yada So instead of not buying gas on one day, this year's scheme is to not buy any from a few selected companies. YMMV edited by mikej on March 02, 2004 | ||
| Hootowl |
Although I am responding to Mikej's post, this is not directed at him. Just a general rant. Gasoline EXACTLY tracks crude oil prices. The profit margin on gasoline is a few cents a gallon. Gasoline has actually gone DOWN in price if you adjust for inflation. A gallon of milk costs $350. Bottled spring water is $4 a gallon. Remember what those cost 20 years ago? Gas has only gone up 70 cents a gallon in the last 20 years. (And how much of that is taxes?) Gas is still the cheapest fluid you can buy. If we boycotted one company, the others would run out of gas. The price would go up. We import 20% of our gasoline from Canada because our demand for gas exceeds our production capacity. What do you suppose will happen if we stop buying a particular company's gas? It won't hurt Exxon-Mobil a bit. It'll just run up gas prices and they'll sell the gas to their competition for a profit. Then they'll use their hydrocarbons to make heating oil for the winter or sell it to chemical companies to make plastic or tires or whatever. The only way to lower gas prices is to USE LESS GAS. This will reduce demand for crude, and THAT will lower gas prices. But what the hell do I know. Go drive your gas-guzzling SUV down to the corner store and pick up a $4 gallon of milk. California's gas woes are (like their power problems) self inflicted. They have their very own gas formulation. When there is a supply, distribution or refining glitch on the west coast, they can't simply bring in gas from somewhere else. They have to bring in California RFG. Our refineries are operating at 100% capacity. If ANYTHING happens to one of the plants, there will be a gas shortage. There is no way to pick up the slack. The environmentalist lobby has made it virtually impossible to build more refineries. We're stuck with what we have. Hey, I have an idea. Lets get all our friends to buy fuel efficient BUELL motorcycles instead of boycotting oil companies. The world will be a better place. | ||
| Road_thing |
He may be a mathematician, but he's sure as hell not an economist! Somebody needs to explain elasticity of demand to that fool. Here's some real quick ciphering for anybody that thinks gas costs too much: 1) Crude oil costs around $30 a barrel, or 71 cents a gallon--for you non-oil types, there are 42 US gallons in a Stock Tank Barrel(STB). 2) Taxes on a gallon of gas (at least in my area) run about 40 cents a gallon. So raw material and taxes account for $1.11 of the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump. That leaves a potential profit of, say, 60 cents a gallon, BEFORE refining, transportation and marketing costs. I know diddly-squat about that end of the business, but I do have a friend who owns a Chevron station, and he tells me that his profit on a gallon of gas is only a couple of cents. That's why all the gas stations have C-stores attached to them now-they make much more money selling sugar water at $1 a pint (which works out to $8 a gallon) than gasoline at $1.70 a gallon. I could really get spooled up on this subject, but this is a MOTORCYCLE BOARD! Suffice it to say, if you want to see a seriously pissed-off road_thing, stand in my driveway with a $1 bottle of water in your hand and tell me that the oil companies are ripping you off.  r-t | ||
| Bomber |
kinda like saying that US gas is too cheap (something I hear from Euro buds from time to time) . . . . . . gotta love chain letters, though, doncha? I know a couple of gas-station owners . . . . to back up Thang's statements, they all say the same thing . . . . you can also figure how bad their profit margin is by the rapid changes in ownership some stations undergo . . . . any shift in demographics, crime rate, propduct demand, and sun spot activity pretty regularly causes massive changes in station ownership in a neighborhood . . . those folks ain't getting rich, that's for sure . . . .. . econ 101 sez high demand, high price . . . . with the average size of the american 4-wheel conveyance growing (apparently), and fuel usage going up (no way an escalade is gonna use less gas than a civic), prices are gonna rise . . . .. and that's before you factor in all the political factors (both at home and overseas . . . .. . ) | ||
| Newfie_buell |
I heard something on the radio on that this morning as well. Gas Prices going up due to lack of supply or something stupid. The way I look at it we need it so we must pay what they want...........Or Not Drive. | ||
| Hootowl |
Good info. http://www.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-refining.htm edited by hootowl on March 02, 2004 edited by hootowl on March 02, 2004 | ||
| Bads1 |
Roadthing is right on the money when it comes to profit on a gallon of gas.It can be as much as 4 cents a gal. profit but can be as bad as 1 cent if your having a price war with a station down the street thats ran by a Arab or a chain like Qwik Trip.This are just North of Ill. and just South of Milwuakee,we run two blends of gas Summer blend and Winter blend and many of the refineries are at this time switching from there Winter to the Summer blends so we see big increases in gas price until they catch up with demand. | ||
| Blake |
Thank you Hoot and friends. Mike! Dude! That kind of nonsense is supposed to go straight to the trash bin. | ||
| Blake |
A'MEN to that!!! Even the cheapy distilled stuff that I use for the cooling systems in our automobiles and for the clothes iron steam is like $0.60/gal. | ||
| Bud |
What’s the fuss about ??? Where paying € 1,20 a liter that’s about $ 5,72 a gallon | ||
| Darthane |
Gas here in Japan is about 85-100 yen per liter. Figure $3.50 a gallon. Course, all their cars have 1.2 liter four bangers in them! LOL We can bitch about the price of gas all we want - but it's our own damned fault. I drive a full-size pickup. It can cost me up to $40 to fill it up. But I also have my beloved Firebolt (45-50mpg) and Blast (60-75mpg) for when I really don't feel like plunking the money down. It's all in your choices. Oh, and it's not the car companies screwing you either. Look up the efficiency of an internal combustion engine and you'll see that it really IS impossible to get 30mpg out of a 5+ liter V8 that still makes the HP and torque numbers that the American public demands. Bryan | ||
| Fullpower |
Bud, thats not gasoline you are paying 1,20 per litre for. that is just one of your many SOCIALISM bills. | ||
| Dynarider |
Only problem with the milk price analogy is that we dont buy it 10-15-20 gallons at a time & its not gone in 15 minutes like a gallon of gas. There is no valid reason the price should rise. Its about $1.70 or so now & I too have heard the doom & gloom tales of $3 by summer...if that turns out to be true...why? | ||
| Bads1 |
Dyna we go through these gas price increases every year.Like I said there now changing there blends for summer and we pay through the nose for it till they meet the demand.It sucks but we've seen some hefty prices in are area last year to. | ||
| Honu |
I work in a oil refinery. The EPA low sulfur spec gasoline went into effect for 2004. This stopped a lot of imported gasoline from coming into the country=less supply=higher cost. The Oil Pricing Index Services report today had spot gasoline price at a $1.10 Gulf Coast/ $1.30 West Coast. This is what refineries are selling gasoline for, also comodities traders cause price jumps on their speculation of everthing from weather/refinery/shipping/transportation problems. | ||
| Fullpower |
honu: thanks for the sanity break. | ||
| Koz5150 |
Gas like any other product is going to increase in cost. If your salary/income increases at a greater rate, then there should be no problem. If it increases at a smaller rate, perhaps you should stop goofing off on the internet and go back to school. If it's important enough to you, you will pay it. Look at how many people still smoke even though it cost $3.00 a pack (I am guessing, I quit 2 years ago). It is all a matter of priorities and lifestyle. America is all about the OPPORTUNITY to succeed, what you do with that opportunity is your choice. | ||
| Honu |
I question my own sanity everyday!  Just wanted to share some info, People would be amazed at how much imported gasoline was arriving into the U.S.A. everyday. Even Belgium was sending around 3 million gallons a month. The prices I quoted was for regular unleaded.  | ||
| Honu |
Ken, What kinda gas mileage does that Bar Stool racer get? | ||
| Ray_maines |
Newfie said "Gas Prices going up due to lack of supply or something stupid" Did I misunderstand that comment, or did you just say something, how can I say this politely, stupid? Constant or rising demand and "lack of supply" ALWAYS means higher prices. If you want to lower the price of gas (or anything else) use less of it. First of all, that lowers your actual cost, and secondly it helps to reduce the overall demand for the product. Stay home, walk, ride your bicycle, ride your Buell, car pool, take the bus, sell your gas sucking SUV. Do what ever it takes to use less gas. Your other option is to just pay whatever it costs and quit whining, but don't bother to boycott any particular brand. | ||
| Jim_witt |
Damn gas prices!  | ||
| Bigj |
Gas in the U.S. was the highest ever in 1981. The average price per gallon was $1.41. In today's dollars, gas would have to hit $2.89 a gallon to equal it. I certainly remember those 1981 prices. I was making about $2.00 an hour, and I remember gas where I lived hitting $1.50 a gallon.  | ||
| Dynarider |
I certainly remember those 1981 prices. I was making about $2.00 an hour Doing what? Hell I was making $4.30 an hr in 79 & that was working in the basement of the local newspaper. | ||
| Koz5150 |
The 5hp barstool (The one I am pictured on in my profile) is good for about 3 rounds of brew. The new model just drinks faster then anyone riding it. (will also do close to 50 mph) Independent front suspension,swing arm rear suspension 8 HP Robin engine ported and polished Comet tav2 torque converter disc brake,solid axle,5:1 final gearing  | ||
| Ezblast |
I pay an average of $2.24 or more per gal of premium here in SF - CA, and I figure prices to only go up - jeez your stuffs cheap! Thank God I got Blasts! - lol - how would you protest - write our congress - lol GT - JBOTDS! EZ  | ||
| Koz5150 |
I was in 4th grade in 1981.... YOu bunch of old farts... ha ha ha | ||
| Hootowl |
...There is no valid reason the price should rise. Its about $1.70 or so now & I too have heard the doom & gloom tales of $3 by summer...if that turns out to be true...why? A couple of the countries we import oil from are having a tough time right now politically and their production is down. OPEC stated they will not increase production to cover it. Supply down, prices up. My reference to milk and other things you buy was that as the price of those things has gone up, the price of gas has actually gone down. If gas prices rose along with everything else, it would be a whole lot more than the feared $3 mark. It is enormously expensive to get oil out of the ground. In fact, if crude drops below a certain price, WE STOP PUMPING in Texas and Louisiana. It costs more to extract it than we can sell it for. Oil doesn't just bubble up out of the ground anymore. It usually has to be forced out by fracturing the rock with explosives and then pumping a slurry in from one end and pumping out the oil from the other. Every gallon of crude you take out has to be replaced with a gallon of something else. It's not cheap. | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
I just came from Japan where Gas was around $3.00, A LITER!  I'll never complain about $2.00 a gallon again...  | ||
| Darthane |
325 yen a liter? Where the hell in Japan were you? Here in Hiroshima it's between 85 and 100 yen per liter, depending on if you get full service or not... I was in 4th grade in 1981.... YOu bunch of old farts... ha ha ha <~~Koz Ha...I was BORN that year, which makes YOU the old fart! Bryan | ||
| Hootowl |
What happened to all the oil we are supposed to be stealing from Iraq? Damn oil companies. |
