Anyone Else Worried About GAS / FUEL ?!?!

[Cuizer2]

OMG I just looked at my post and can completely understand your reaction. That would be expensive gas. :p I should have typed $1.259 per liter. Oh how I wish we were back to imperial measure. ;)

 

2P.P1

 

I take it you don't proof read much.

[FanofFlorida]

This is why I am not buying a car for my kids- I am a young(?)er parent of teenagers, and part of the X gen who, as teens themselves, valued everyone based on the crap they had- especially a car.

Until about a year ago, I was insistent on the idea that I wanted my daughters to drive their own car to support their maturity and independance. Now I believe those values are over-rated when it comes to transportation choices.

 

So now that I am emerging from the fog into my mid-thirties- plus having teens help get to a total reality check- I realize how unimportant this "having a car label" is. I dont want my kids to believe they HAVE to buy a car to survive. They can CHOOSE to live urban. Our city has public transportation, and is a very 'forward thinking' town when it comes to natural resources.

MY kids have an opportunity to begin their adult lives with the PREFERENCE not to have to DRIVE everywhere. We have friends that use the bus every day, and when they need to leave town, rent a car for the weekend. With insurance, it only costs them about $50!

 

Dont get me wrong, as I am not trying to be self righteous here. Hey, I am no granola and I LOVE my car.... I understand the need to drive as I have a 65 mile one way commute to work! (I use a shuttle service) I feel it is my RESPONSIBILITY as a parent to help develop some new solutions for a younger (and less wealthy) generation.

(Plus, I would like my kids to actually move out of the house someday so I can afford to cruise more- :D )

[Cruiser-T]

Then why does BIG OIL keep asking to be able to drill off the coasts, ANWR, South Dakota, and all of the other places that the Greens have declared to be off limits? Sometimes, when you think there is a conspiracy you are just believing things that are patently untrue. :rolleyes: If they are making billions selling Saudi, Canadian, Venzuelan, and Mexican Oil which they have to buy on the open market at $125 a barrel, wouldn't it make sense that they could make even more by selling oil that cost them 25 to 50 dollars a barrel that they brought up from the ground? Economics is really pathetically understood thanks to an educational system steeped in indoctrination and non critical thinking. JMHO

 

jc

 

You must be a stockholder in BIG OIL. Oh and I am not so sure they want to discover more oil, it could drive the price down. I guess your economic theory and mine are not the same. LOL!

[twoputt.plusone]

I take it you don't proof read much.

 

No time when I'm posting at work. I never claimed to be perfect.

 

2P.P1

[Cuizer2]

No time when I'm posting at work. I never claimed to be perfect.

 

2P.P1

 

Well, after being embarrassed by several of my mistakes, I decided I should do a little proof reading. It has saved me from several additional embarrassing posts.

[wraithe]

You must be a stockholder in BIG OIL. Oh and I am not so sure they want to discover more oil, it could drive the price down. I guess your economic theory and mine are not the same. LOL!

 

I'm a stockholder in big oil, and so is pretty much every other retirement investor in the US. As for Bush and his big oil cronies being thieves, lets see, the oil companies make 8 - 15 cents/gallon of gas sold, the feds make 18 cents/gallon and here in Pennsylvaniastan, gas is taxed at 38 cents/gallon and diesel is 48 cents/gallon. Who did you say were the thieves, maybe the politicians that do zero towards producing wealth, and simply steal it from those who do. Politician, derived from poli- meaning many, and tick, blood sucking parasite. You want gas prices to go down, use less, reduce demand, and produce more, drill for it, if one company won't, you can bet that wildcatters will. Once the oil is on the market, ease the strain and prices will go down. Oh and while you're at it, build more nuclear power plants, the cleanest, greenest power producer of all.

[Rancher Dave]

One of my friends works for a big 2 old name now one name oil company. He joked that his Emergency Response Team for their data center is called into action now if gas slided below $3/gallon! We told him to keep the day job...his comedian skills didn't work with the price going up cents per hour as folks were in the disaster relief course.

 

Here it jumped at one station 10cents overnight, thankfully I had fueled the night before.

 

I find myself driving less, it helps my primary office is at home and when I do drive most of the miles are to/from the ranch 95% highway miles between the two spots.

 

I'm guessing Ocean Boy must be in the Westerly area. It will be interesting to see in 5 weeks how the prices compare to what they are today. In that area they will be getting more and more tourists in especially over the weekend in that time frame. With the crowds and not an over abundance of gas stations in the area it will just be interesting.

 

As for the comment from OB about MDs not being good at business, most of my consulting clients are MDs and yes, I do spend a lot of time discussing what is good business with MCOs and what is not. Often repeating the same lesson quarter after quarter.

 

Watch as your ultilities costs also go up. Food is going up and given the extra costs to fertlize crops, for me it essentailly doubled since last year, we will continue to see price increases, our work will be buying us more this year.

 

To all, bidding you good gas prices and energy savings!!!

[isujim]

You must be a stockholder in BIG OIL. Oh and I am not so sure they want to discover more oil, it could drive the price down. I guess your economic theory and mine are not the same. LOL!

 

 

I know which theory I would bet on.........jc we are headed to Maui next April for 10 glorius days.......:)

[isujim]

I'm a stockholder in big oil, and so is pretty much every other retirement investor in the US. As for Bush and his big oil cronies being thieves, lets see, the oil companies make 8 - 15 cents/gallon of gas sold, the feds make 18 cents/gallon and here in Pennsylvaniastan, gas is taxed at 38 cents/gallon and diesel is 48 cents/gallon. Who did you say were the thieves, maybe the politicians that do zero towards producing wealth, and simply steal it from those who do. Politician, derived from poli- meaning many, and tick, blood sucking parasite. You want gas prices to go down, use less, reduce demand, and produce more, drill for it, if one company won't, you can bet that wildcatters will. Once the oil is on the market, ease the strain and prices will go down. Oh and while you're at it, build more nuclear power plants, the cleanest, greenest power producer of all.

 

You know......I'm one of those retirement investors as well........:D Sorry we are missing each other on the grandeur but maybe soon.......we can have an investor meeting.......

[Ohunion Cruzers]

I'm a stockholder in big oil, and so is pretty much every other retirement investor in the US. As for Bush and his big oil cronies being thieves, lets see, the oil companies make 8 - 15 cents/gallon of gas sold, the feds make 18 cents/gallon and here in Pennsylvaniastan, gas is taxed at 38 cents/gallon and diesel is 48 cents/gallon. Who did you say were the thieves, maybe the politicians that do zero towards producing wealth, and simply steal it from those who do. Politician, derived from poli- meaning many, and tick, blood sucking parasite. You want gas prices to go down, use less, reduce demand, and produce more, drill for it, if one company won't, you can bet that wildcatters will. Once the oil is on the market, ease the strain and prices will go down. Oh and while you're at it, build more nuclear power plants, the cleanest, greenest power producer of all.

 

In theory, you are correct. However, what is really happening: When the demand goes down, the oil companies produce less, thereby keeping supply down and (artificially) keeping demand up. Prices remain the same or go higher. Check out the first quarter '08 vs. first quarter '07 results. You'll see less bbls refined in '08 than in '07.

[curley23]

If you sell based only on what you pay as a distributor, and ignore what you have to pay to replace the product then you are a pathetic business man.

 

Example if gas cost 3.25 and you are selling if for 3.75, and your supplier offers you gas to fill your underground tank at 3.80. Would it be a prudent business practice to continue to sell gas for 3.75? If you do you will find that the revenue from selling the underground tank will not cover the cost of replacing what you sold. Expecting a business to do something so silly is another example of how people do not think about what the real world is.

 

jc

 

Don't start talking too much common sense here. There are too many who cannot follow . One more thing, until the US shores up the dollar we will also continue to see the price of oil going up.

[BobBeaSea]

I'm a stockholder in big oil, and so is pretty much every other retirement investor in the US. As for Bush and his big oil cronies being thieves, lets see, the oil companies make 8 - 15 cents/gallon of gas sold, the feds make 18 cents/gallon and here in Pennsylvaniastan, gas is taxed at 38 cents/gallon and diesel is 48 cents/gallon. Who did you say were the thieves, maybe the politicians that do zero towards producing wealth, and simply steal it from those who do. Politician, derived from poli- meaning many, and tick, blood sucking parasite. You want gas prices to go down, use less, reduce demand, and produce more, drill for it, if one company won't, you can bet that wildcatters will. Once the oil is on the market, ease the strain and prices will go down. Oh and while you're at it, build more nuclear power plants, the cleanest, greenest power producer of all.

 

Wraithe, I agree with you in principle however your statement that oil companies only make a profit of 8 - 15 cents per gallon is flat out wrong, they simply couldn't survive if this was all they made. Take EXXON/Mobil for example, in 2007 their revenue was $404.5 billion - profit was $40.6 billion, this is much, much more than 8-15 cents per gallon. The relationship of profit to revenue is essentially the same for most of the majors, unless there is a major league foul up.

 

Having said this, major oil companies are in real danger - and they know it. The majors survive on two types of business units, upstream and downstream. Upstream is all the activities associated with exploration, development and production of crude from their OWN "bathtubs" which are oil reserves they own or control.The problem the majors have is replenishing their reserves. For example EXXON/Mobil only produces 3% of the world's crude production (and they are the largest major in the world). This is a paltry 2.5 miilion barrels per day or so. The problems of the majors replenishing their reserves is what keeps the executives from sleeping well - it puts their businesses at severe risk and this risk will only get worse as time goes on.

 

For others with a grudge against "big oil", oil and products derived from oil, such as gasoline, heating oil etc. are publicly traded on commodities markets (3 of 'em to be exact - NYMEX (WTI), London (Brent Crude) and a small exchange in the Middle East, can't remember which country) - there is no vast conspiracy at work to drive the prices up, it is what it is. While all nations feel the heat from high oil prices the U.S. might be feeling the pinch a little bit more than others. The price right now is around $125.00 a barrel. At a guess I would say heightened speculation (its just business :)) accounts for perhaps $15.00 - $20.00 or so and the severe decline of the greenback over the last 6 years would probably account for around another $25.00 to $30.00 or so. The U.S. buck is the predominant petro-dollar.

 

The problem the U.S. (and the world, for that matter) faces is exploration, development and production of crude. U.S. production peaked in 1970 and is a main reason for the never ending string of trade deficits since the '70's. The U.S. currently produces about 35% of the oil consumed which means importing approximately 13.5 million barrels equivalent per day. Current U.S. conventional reserves are around 22 billion barrels, annual consumption is approximately 7.5 billion barrels - surely we can see the problem :)

 

Regardless of what we think, ANWAR, the Gulf coast off Florida and the East coast will need to explored and developed. There is no choice, our society is so overwhelmingly dependent on oil and not just for transportation (70% of all U.S. oil consumption). At this time there is NOTHING, NO ALTERNATIVE to oil. The truth may hurt but wishing for something is not an answer.

[PudgiPoo]

I read this entire post, very interesting, but no one gave this idea. We are booked for Alaska cruise in July 09. I booked RC air just in case. I have no way of knowing what airfare will look like next summer and driving from Texas is out of the question. I can cancel the RC air up until I do final payment. So I book the high RC air, but when it gets closer to time I will be out there looking if I can beat the price. To me this looks like a prudent thing to do.;) :confused:

[twoputt.plusone]

Well, after being embarrassed by several of my mistakes, I decided I should do a little proof reading. It has saved me from several additional embarrassing posts.

 

Thank you for the tip. I've been around these boards for many years and know full well how unforgiving they can be. A simple slip of a decimal point and you're dead meat. :o

 

2P.P1

[wraithe]

Wraithe, I agree with you in principle however your statement that oil companies only make a profit of 8 - 15 cents per gallon is flat out wrong, they simply couldn't survive if this was all they made. Take EXXON/Mobil for example, in 2007 their revenue was $404.5 billion - profit was $40.6 billion, this is much, much more than 8-15 cents per gallon. The relationship of profit to revenue is essentially the same for most of the majors, unless there is a major league foul up.

 

We can argue all day long about how much they make on a gallon of gas or diesel at the pump, but the point is, the state and federal government make more money than the oil companies do and provide no value added.

 

Having said this, major oil companies are in real danger - and they know it. The majors survive on two types of business units, upstream and downstream. Upstream is all the activities associated with exploration, development and production of crude from their OWN "bathtubs" which are oil reserves they own or control.The problem the majors have is replenishing their reserves. For example EXXON/Mobil only produces 3% of the world's crude production (and they are the largest major in the world). This is a paltry 2.5 miilion barrels per day or so. The problems of the majors replenishing their reserves is what keeps the executives from sleeping well - it puts their businesses at severe risk and this risk will only get worse as time goes on.

 

For others with a grudge against "big oil", oil and products derived from oil, such as gasoline, heating oil etc. are publicly traded on commodities markets (3 of 'em to be exact - NYMEX (WTI), London (Brent Crude) and a small exchange in the Middle East, can't remember which country) - there is no vast conspiracy at work to drive the prices up, it is what it is. While all nations feel the heat from high oil prices the U.S. might be feeling the pinch a little bit more than others. The price right now is around $125.00 a barrel. At a guess I would say heightened speculation (its just business :)) accounts for perhaps $15.00 - $20.00 or so and the severe decline of the greenback over the last 6 years would probably account for around another $25.00 to $30.00 or so. The U.S. buck is the predominant petro-dollar.

 

The problem the U.S. (and the world, for that matter) faces is exploration, development and production of crude. U.S. production peaked in 1970 and is a main reason for the never ending string of trade deficits since the '70's. The U.S. currently produces about 35% of the oil consumed which means importing approximately 13.5 million barrels equivalent per day. Current U.S. conventional reserves are around 22 billion barrels, annual consumption is approximately 7.5 billion barrels - surely we can see the problem :)

 

Regardless of what we think, ANWAR, the Gulf coast off Florida and the East coast will need to explored and developed. There is no choice, our society is so overwhelmingly dependent on oil and not just for transportation (70% of all U.S. oil consumption). At this time there is NOTHING, NO ALTERNATIVE to oil. The truth may hurt but wishing for something is not an answer.

 

I have to agree with pretty much everything else that you said. Had we opened up ANWR in 1995, we'd be pumping at a minimum a million barrels of oil a day from there. You are completely correct that there is no alternative to oil or coal today that can provide the power density except nuclear, and again, it's a ten year evolution to build a plant.

[BobBeaSea]

wraithe, we could argue all day about taxes from all levels of government on petroleum products but to say governments provide no added value is just flat out wrong. There are grants, susidies, international agreements negotiated on behalf of oil companies, federal land rights approvals and so on.

 

This is in addition to providing an infrastructure which allows oil companies to sell their products. Consider roads and highways for example, who built these? Governments did. As 70% of all oil consumption is for transportation with 70% of this being gasoline for cars and light trucks, not to mention the diesel fuel component, it would be a darn good idea to have roads. I certainly haven't heard of any oil companies building a network of highways and roads.

 

Governments and society as a whole offer oil companies far more "value added" srvices than most people realise.

[xpcdoojk]

You must be a stockholder in BIG OIL. Oh and I am not so sure they want to discover more oil, it could drive the price down. I guess your economic theory and mine are not the same. LOL!

 

I am sure some of the mutual funds I hold have BIG OIL in them. Funny, there is no economic theory that would explain why someone would want to pay $125 for a barrel when they could drill it for $50. Since BIG OIL has control over the price (supply and demand do not apply to BIG OIL because they are evil beyond imagination) they could then still sell gas for $4.00 and make 250% more evil revenue than they currently do and 10000% more profit. It would be dumb of them to do that.:D Seriously, you really need to read beyond Noam Chomsky. May I recommend Milton Friedman, or Thomas Sowell?

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

I'm a stockholder in big oil, and so is pretty much every other retirement investor in the US. As for Bush and his big oil cronies being thieves, lets see, the oil companies make 8 - 15 cents/gallon of gas sold, the feds make 18 cents/gallon and here in Pennsylvaniastan, gas is taxed at 38 cents/gallon and diesel is 48 cents/gallon. Who did you say were the thieves, maybe the politicians that do zero towards producing wealth, and simply steal it from those who do. Politician, derived from poli- meaning many, and tick, blood sucking parasite. You want gas prices to go down, use less, reduce demand, and produce more, drill for it, if one company won't, you can bet that wildcatters will. Once the oil is on the market, ease the strain and prices will go down. Oh and while you're at it, build more nuclear power plants, the cleanest, greenest power producer of all.

 

Have I mentioned recently how much I admire you? You Wraithe, ROCK!

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

I know which theory I would bet on.........jc we are headed to Maui next April for 10 glorius days.......:)

 

You lucky dog! I would so love to be sailing to Hawaii right now! Have a great trip, buddy!:)

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

Wraithe, I agree with you in principle however your statement that oil companies only make a profit of 8 - 15 cents per gallon is flat out wrong, they simply couldn't survive if this was all they made. Take EXXON/Mobil for example, in 2007 their revenue was $404.5 billion - profit was $40.6 billion, this is much, much more than 8-15 cents per gallon. The relationship of profit to revenue is essentially the same for most of the majors, unless there is a major league foul up.

 

Having said this, major oil companies are in real danger - and they know it. The majors survive on two types of business units, upstream and downstream. Upstream is all the activities associated with exploration, development and production of crude from their OWN "bathtubs" which are oil reserves they own or control.The problem the majors have is replenishing their reserves. For example EXXON/Mobil only produces 3% of the world's crude production (and they are the largest major in the world). This is a paltry 2.5 miilion barrels per day or so. The problems of the majors replenishing their reserves is what keeps the executives from sleeping well - it puts their businesses at severe risk and this risk will only get worse as time goes on.

 

For others with a grudge against "big oil", oil and products derived from oil, such as gasoline, heating oil etc. are publicly traded on commodities markets (3 of 'em to be exact - NYMEX (WTI), London (Brent Crude) and a small exchange in the Middle East, can't remember which country) - there is no vast conspiracy at work to drive the prices up, it is what it is. While all nations feel the heat from high oil prices the U.S. might be feeling the pinch a little bit more than others. The price right now is around $125.00 a barrel. At a guess I would say heightened speculation (its just business :)) accounts for perhaps $15.00 - $20.00 or so and the severe decline of the greenback over the last 6 years would probably account for around another $25.00 to $30.00 or so. The U.S. buck is the predominant petro-dollar.

 

The problem the U.S. (and the world, for that matter) faces is exploration, development and production of crude. U.S. production peaked in 1970 and is a main reason for the never ending string of trade deficits since the '70's. The U.S. currently produces about 35% of the oil consumed which means importing approximately 13.5 million barrels equivalent per day. Current U.S. conventional reserves are around 22 billion barrels, annual consumption is approximately 7.5 billion barrels - surely we can see the problem :)

 

Regardless of what we think, ANWAR, the Gulf coast off Florida and the East coast will need to explored and developed. There is no choice, our society is so overwhelmingly dependent on oil and not just for transportation (70% of all U.S. oil consumption). At this time there is NOTHING, NO ALTERNATIVE to oil. The truth may hurt but wishing for something is not an answer.

 

Bob, are you feeling ok? That was an extremely cogent post! :eek: :D ;)

 

your friend

 

jc

[lady_cruiser]

As long as the ship does not run out of gas in the middle of nowhere I will not worry about fuel charges etc.

[isujim]

You lucky dog! I would so love to be sailing to Hawaii right now! Have a great trip, buddy!:)

 

jc

 

This time we decided to do a land vacation.........the red eye back though is a bummer........we are staying at the Kapalua Villas......no agenda, just 10 days in Maui.

[xpcdoojk]

This time we decided to do a land vacation.........the red eye back though is a bummer........we are staying at the Kapalua Villas......no agenda, just 10 days in Maui.

 

 

Sweet! Maui! :)

 

jc

[flagger]

This whole idea of "windfall profits" is just silly. 'Big Oil' has made a profit margin of 7-10% since the current occupant has been in the White House. Tell me what business wouldn't be happy with a 7-10% profit margin and then tell me how is that exactly a windfall? If it is consider that Google showed a profit margin of 25% last year. Of course you are not dependent on Google for your livelihood, but many of you are on private health care insurers, pharmaceutical companies and cosmetic companies. Have you looked at their reported profit margin for last year?

 

If you tax big oils profits, what do you think is going to happen to their stock prices? Wanna know who is invested in big oil? Retirees, police and fire pensions, teacher pensions and many 401(k)s include an investment in 'Big Oil'. Just who do you think is going to suffer? Tax Big Oil profits and what do you think 'they' will do to the price of oil to compensate for those taxes.

 

Now I am all for ending corporate welfare and 'Big Oil' has gotten a break, but so has the almighty farmer. Seen the price of wheat lately? Big Oil employees a lot of people who all contribute to the tax rolls through their income tax.

 

Finally, if you are in favor of this 'windfall profits' tax, were you for subsidies payments when oil was $12 a barrel? Will you be in the future? Thieves? Hardly!

[Brad1185]

Check out a crude awakening dvd. There is no alternative and it appears demand is starting to equal supply. As demand continues to climb and world supply goes down, hard to imaging all the cruise ships in service now and being built to be able to be filling up each week.