OFF TOPIC but Important!

[Kevin Whitehead]

***********WARNING*************

Please cover the top of your cranium with tin foil.

The whacky conspiracy theories are being winged in all directions.

Gas cost $0.30 / gallon at one time (early-70's?). At that time an average car cost $2000.

Now an average car cost what? $20,000?

At that rate, gas should cost $3.00 / gallon. It doesn't.

Bread also costs something like 8-10 times what it did in the early-70's.

Looks like gas may be nearly at the lowest cost / gallon it has ever been (when the value of the dollar is taken into account). And, that is including the 25-30% of the cost which constitutes both state and federal gas taxes (which are likely considerably higher than the 70's).

 

[Don Ferrette]

" ***********WARNING*************

Please cover the top of your cranium with tin foil.

The whacky conspiracy theories are being winged in all directions."

Interesting approach, but every aspect of manufacturing & industry ties it's production costs to the price of petroleum, that's a matter of record. Not to mention the price increases of a barrel of crude does not come close to being in line with your "math". There are actually instances where a barrel of crude was higher in years gone by than now. No conspiracy theories, no plots, just UNREGULATED big business making money, and LOTS of it. :blink:

 

[Russell Bear]

This is all REALLY getting to me, I'm about to blow a gasket!!!

 

[Kevin Whitehead]

Unregulated?

Right.

Here is an industry that is so heavily regulated that the government determines the chemical makeup of the products that they sell. And this chemical makeup is based not only on geographic location but also on the season of the year!

Try making a product for sale and then be forced to modify the construction process every six months (if not more frequently), and do that at a profit.

How many other industries (not specifically doing business with the government)have the design of their product regulated right down to the atomic level?

To call the petroleum industry unregulated is ludicrous.

Also, there is no way that every year record profits are being acheived in the petroleum industry. No way.

 

[TimD]

The thing that I always found annoying was the price fluctuations day to day etc.

Where I live it seems that Tuesday is the day to buy as it is cheaper than the rest of the week. Does this apply elsewhere in the world or is it just an Aussie thing?

 

[Joe_Knesek]

The thing that I always found annoying was the price fluctuations day to day etc.Where I live it seems that Tuesday is the day to buy as it is cheaper than the rest of the week. Does this apply elsewhere in the world or is it just an Aussie thing?

It's a globel thing. We have a local web site that tracks the gas prices and it's amasing how much it changes.

 

[Don Ferrette]

To call the petroleum industry unregulated is ludicrous.

Also, there is no way that every year record profits are being acheived in the petroleum industry. No way."

Guess I should have been clearer. Unregulated as far as pricing, profits, etc. The US government has their fingers in alot of pies regarding this very thing, but not oil. As for profits, that's public record too, it's called quarterly reports, if you go digging you'll find it. How do you think the big petrol companies have the cash to be buying up all the smaller ones. Has anyone noticed that as these "mergers" keep happening the costs at the pumps go up with them. When you eliminate the competition you have far more control over pricing since you now own joe blow gas down the street. And a product that changes every 6 months? Gimme a break. That seasonal fuel you refer to is "oxygenated" fuel, supposedly designed to burn cleaner in colder weather. When was the last time you saw a smog alert in the winter? These "reformulated" fuels burn faster & reduce vehicle mileage by an average of 15-20%. So guess what? They sell more gas that way. This "new" formula was created by the oil companies as their "contribution" to help pollution. What total bunk, they offset the 15% drop in gas consumption by consumers compared to summer when more people are travelling by car. If you want to buy into the whole "smoke & mirrors" game go right ahead. I spent over 20 years in the auto industry, petroleum was, still is, and always will be big money with BIG profits.

Enough. I'm done with this one............. <_<

 

[rcboatlover]

I think Keven has it right!

"Gas may be nearly at the lowest cost / gallon it has ever been (when the value of the dollar is taken into account)."

I think it's funny that people complain when it goes up a penny or two. Even better is when they shop around for the best deal. What is a .5 cent difference going to be on a 20 gallon fill up? Of all the things we waist money on why is this the battle we choose to fight? Is it because we don't have controle over it, but have to have it? :huh:

Yes it sucks that the prices change on a daily basis, but I don't think a few E-mails are going to change things.

Maby instead of finding a way to lower the price per gallon, we should try to use less of it?

Also... I don't think the price of compact cars will go up if more people bought them. It would just make for a better market. Even if the price did go up, they would still burn less fuel!

Just my 2 cents!

 

[Kevin Whitehead]

"Guess I should have been clearer. Unregulated as far as pricing, profits, etc. The US government has their fingers in alot of pies regarding this very thing, but not oil."

If a person was selling a product, say boats. He sells 98 out of 100 hulls that he built. He knows he has the last two that are available and they are in demand. He can double the price, if he so desires. Simple supply and demand. And, the government will not interfere.

Now, if any gas station at any location in the U.S. ever tried to increase their prices by so much as 25% (maybe even less), they would almost instantly be investigated by their state Attorney General (if not the A.G. of the U.S!).

I've seen it happen many times, in my state and others. Last time I saw this happen was two or three years ago, in Michigan. A station raise prices 20 or 30 cents. The very next day the state A.G. launched an investigation and forced the price back down.

The unregulated pricing or profit arguement, also fails.

Here you can find out how much your state and the federal gov get out of your gas dollar:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statisti...state_2002.html

If the total gas tax in your state is $0.45 and the price at the pump is $1.65, that leaves $1.20.

$1.20? That's the same price as a 9 oz. bottle of Evian bottled water! Do they pump Evian water out of the Earth, transport it halfway around the globe, and then have to refine it?

Enormous, uncalled for profits. Right.

 

[CySlyde]

These "reformulated" fuels burn faster & reduce vehicle mileage by an average of 15-20%. So guess what? They sell more gas that way.

not to sound nieve here, but is that true? I always just figured my car had a harder time getting fuel to burn right when it was too cold... oh well.. used to have a dual tankd truck.. hated to fuel it up.. but now that i think of it i could go a month between fuelings on it

to put it bluntly, fuel prices will not go down anytime soon.. as long as there are people overly worried about the enviornment, people who want a cut of what others are making, and people in power, prices will remain what they are or go up.

 

[TomMoorehouse]

someone wake me up when this one is over zzzzzzz

 

[TimD]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

We need a snoring smilie!

 

[TomMoorehouse]

 

[TimD]

Hey Tom,

Did you import them or are they hiding somewhere? h34r:

 

[TomMoorehouse]

http://smiley.onegreatguy.net

 

[Mike G]

You guys in the US are getting screwed, the oil companies know you will pay more because they think you will think it is harder to get oil because of the past war, they are profitting from your fears!

Like it has been mentioned, supply and demand, the US uses more oil than any other country in the world so it should have the cheepest prices! Buy in bulk, stop paying by the barrel and start paying per ship load! :lol:

One more thing, the US has regulations on GOUGING, a 25%-30% price hike would probably fall under this, esspecially if there was a short supply. I saw this in effect first hand in Fl. when there is a hurricane alert and people were charging $80 a sheet for 1/2" plywood. :blink:

 

[Propjockey]

It's all B.S. as the oil companies CONTROL this country. Doesn't matter who is sitting in the big chair, NONE of them will touch the oil companies. Why?? Money, plain and simple. Put the money in the right pocket & it's a done deal which is what the oil companies do year in & year out.

Anyone ever wonder why the internal combustion engine is still the #1 source of power for personal transportation? I mean, isn't it funny how the last 50 or so years has seen the largest technological boom in history...but we still use an idea more than 80 years old to get from point A to point B? Sure, it's been improved upon, but what's keeping alternate power sources from becoming mainstream?

Think about it. From campfires to microwaves. From Pony Express to e-mail. From gas powered Model A to gas powered IROC Z? I don't get it. :blink:

 

[Mark]

That's it exactly Propjockey, like I said big entities are hard to beat, not to mention people circum to advertising suprisingly easier than I thought. Push the campain hard enough and people will buy it even when they know it's not such a good idea.

You made a good point that we haven't really progressed at all with the motor-car.

I would have other forms of power plants would be used by now. I wouldn't want to know how nasty oil companies would get to protect their financial future. Funny that it seems that they are the ones who have the dollars to develop other forms of power for vehicles and that they are the ones who would profit from the research. Maybe they already have something in store for later.

 

[Saugling]

In Germany we are paying about

1.05€ / liter = 3,94€ / gallon = $4,80 / gallon !!! :huh: :angry:

Now I am really looking foward to my summer vacation

(I will visit my brother near Seattle )

So driving will be very very cheap for me there B)

regards

Robert