What is Digg?245 Comments
- Fr4nk2012, on 10/11/2007, -31/+192I just personally wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who in the last 7 years or so has bought an SUV. I understand that you can do whatever you want and I'm sure all that cargo room has really made a couple days of your life easier, I'm also equally as sure that your neighbors and psuedo-friends think your really ***** cool and have alot of money. I want to thank you because I love paying such high prices for gas, you see your vehicles demand more gasoline (lower mpg) and since the supply of gasoline stays the same the price goes up. It simple really and I for one love it.
Have you all seen the new Hummers, Oh my god they are the ***** most cool things ever. Standard features now include a bumper sticker that says "***** You", superbright headlights that automatically seek out smaller more inferior cars rearview mirrors,and all the tools you need to pull trees right out of the ground. I read in Car and Driver that 80percent of men whose fathers didn't show them enough affection will actually get an erection in the presence of this awesome machine. Tonight I'm going to go buy one and then do donuts in all of my neighbors lawns to show them that I have a bigger dick then them and also that I have more money. ta ta - MercedRocks, on 10/11/2007, -8/+94Well, whats ironic, is that this whole stupid bottled water craze has actually made gas more expensive, as it requires oil to extract the water, put it in a bottle, make the bottle, and then package, and ship the stupid bottle. All so somebody can have water from Fiji instead of that magical tap in our sinks that most of the world would kill for........and people hate Americans why?
- jeffiek, on 10/11/2007, -6/+80@mikeyrock
You need to start from the baseline - 1979. The inflation from then to 2006 is ~300%. Divide $3.30 by 3 and you wind up with $1.10. The chart is correct as printed. You started at 1999, the chart started at 1979. The overall inflation and the change in price of gasoline have moved at different rates at different times. Your numbers are also correct.
Ain't it amazing what you can do with numbers? - neeyo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+68Don't forget that oil (embryonic gas) is traded on an international market and the strength of the US dollar has plummeted since the president starting borrowing oodles and oodles of money. The Euro, when it was introduced, was US 0.88 in 2002 and now it's at around $1.30. My money in New Zealand used to be worth US 0.55 and now it's above $0.70.
If the US dollar was as strong now as it was 5 years ago, "$60" oil would be "$40" oil.
The bottom line though, to the original question - Why does gas cost so much? Because you keep buying it. - atdigg, on 10/11/2007, -6/+42Why is one liter of bottled water $1.20? That makes water more expensive than gas
- mikeyrock, on 10/11/2007, -7/+38Is that inflation chart even right? Have we really had that much inflation in the past 7 years??
- TVisdoG, on 10/11/2007, -8/+39Inflation tends to increase along with national debt, as the government prints more money to cover the interest. If you look at the deficit that the Bush administration has been running for the past 7 years, you can expect a heck of a lot more inflation than we've seen so far.
- imamessy1, on 10/11/2007, -3/+31Despite all the complaints, on three seperate occaisons this weekend, I saw packed gas stations with people waiting in line at the pumps.
- mikelieman, on 10/11/2007, -4/+30Yeah, but for LESS than we've wasted occupying Iraq, we could have had a freaking constellation of freaking orbiting solar power satellites beaming down so much freaking power we could GIVE IT AWAY to our allies, and tell the oil producers to cut their prices, cause all we need is feedstock for tupperware...
- UGM2099, on 10/11/2007, -4/+30Your gasoline is served in massive amounts. If you want 1 liter of gasoline in an attractive brushed metal canister with an artistically rendered dinosaur on the front it might go for around $25/bottle.
- subliminalurge, on 10/11/2007, -14/+37@rhino2
Thank you for proving yourself to be a complete moron. You've been sucked in so completely by your political ideology that you can't even look at the situation and infer a few basic truths...
This idea that the war in Iraq has anything to do with oil is stupid. The argument has been around since George Sr. ordered his invasion. It was a silly argument then, and it's completely ***** stupid now. It's an illogical argument that never has, and never will make any sense.
Don't you ***** get it? By ***** around in the mideast, we piss off OPEC, they cut supply to us, and our gas prices go up. To claim that this war had anything to do with the idea of getting cheap oil is stupid. Anybody with half a ***** brain in their head knew from day one that this war would do nothing but increase oil prices, exactly as it has done.
You're anti-war.... OK, fine.... That's cool, I can respect that.
But please stop using stupid, ridiculous arguments against the war. It's not only embarrassing for you, it makes me feel embarrassed for you when I have to read you spouting your ignorance in public. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+23Gas is high because consumers (all of us) want it, lots of it, and don't really give a damn what it costs. Sure, we'll bitch and moan every time it goes up and say someone in Washington should do something about it, but that's about as far is it goes. Well, aside from those retarded-ass chain emails saying we should boycott Exxon-Mobil ("This plan is different. It'll really work this time, I swear!"), which no one follows through on anyway...
If people really gave a *****, they'd try and conserve by demanding, and then buying, more fuel efficient cars. That means: people need to stop buying more car than they need (mom's of two don't need the Tahoe to drive around town); and making more fuel efficient cars. And it's not like it's that big a leap, either. The technology is there, and it's not all the radical (and I'm not talking hybrids). It's called diesel, people.
For example, let's say someone decided to step down from an SUV to a 4-door sedan. In this case, I'll use two cars that are pretty well representative of their respective classes: the Chevy Tahoe; and the 4-door Honda Accord. First of all, I'd say is fair enough to ask someone to make the jump from the Tahoe to the Accord. An Accord, while certainly smaller than a Tahoe and not a huge sedan like a Mercedes, is fairly roomy, has more than enough room for virtually everything you'll ever do, and sure ain't hell no damn Insight or Civic coupe. That jump from the Tahoe to the Accord will taken your MPG from 15 city/21 highway to 24 city/34 highway (20/30 if you go with the V6).
Now in comes the turbo-diesel. And there's really nothing but benefits: better mileage; better durability; and cheaper fuel. Sure, then engine sounds a little different, but come on. While I'd never agree with the argument, I could maybe understand it if diesels sounded like they did back in the 80s...like in those old Mercedes. But that's simply not the case anymore. Anyway...the same car in the UK, the 4-door Accord, with a turbo-diesel gets 32.5 city/52.5 highway, as opposed to 24/34. Hell of an improvement, no? And yes, that's taking into account the difference between imperial gallons and US liquid gallons.
All in all, you've more than doubled your mileage. Toss in the fact that diesel is cheaper to produce, and thus cheaper at the pump, than gasoline, and you're looking at quite the savings. Going by the EPA standard for combined MPG (average of city and highway, weighted .55 city .45 highway), and assuming you drive about 15,000 miles a year, you'd be burning less than half the fuel (847 gallons vs 361) an are looking at savings of approximately $1660 at the current national average of $3.201 a gallon for regular unleaded gas and $2.911 for diesel. Naturally, as time goes on and fuel prices continue to rise, you save even more money. And all while helping to end our dependence of foreign oil AND helping to save the environment.
Anyway...I just wish people would stop bitching about gas prices and actually do something proactive about it. As I've shown, it doesn't have to be anything radical. It's not (or at least shouldn't be) necessary to drop down to a tiny little hybrid, and spend significantly more on the car itself than you otherwise would to do so. Be somewhat sensible about what you buy, which means don't go for the Tahoe, Hummer or the like, and get (or demand) a car that's more fuel efficient. You'll save money, you'll help curb our dependence of foreign oil, and you'll help protect the environment. - poornbroken, on 10/11/2007, -4/+24and gas is expensive because you can't just take crude oil and put it in your car; it needs to be refined.
from what i've heard (unconfirmed rumor) it is refineries choking supplies. ie, they're not operating below capacity. not only that, instead of building new refineries, or upgrading equipment, they're just taking profits and running. - mikeyrock, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22In those places the government taxes on gas (which is what makes the price so high) is going towards their free health care and other such benefits
- SPECOPS, on 10/11/2007, -3/+20You would have thought they'd have learned something by the Coke/Pepsi Model (e.g. bottle it locally, only ship the syrup = less cost to ship, add water [majority of mass] locally)
- jenniface, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Everyone always want to boycott. Is everyone going to start walking or riding bicycles everywhere? People need gas, easy as that. Boycotting certain places just brings business to other places, or allows said places to boom in a few days when everyone needs to fill up again. What is so hard to understand about that?
Sure, it would be great for the environment and for our bank accounts if we could all commute by feet or bike, but unfortunately for most of us it is not an option. - Muyoso, on 10/11/2007, -2/+18Yea, its not like the price was doubling in the years before he became president. Hmm, I wonder, was it Reagans fault, or maybe was it that pesky thing occurring in Iran, you know, the HOSTAGE CRISIS. The event that put the most powerful nation in the world at odds with one of the largest oil producers in the world, but of course, that couldnt have had an effect.
- tacodealer, on 10/11/2007, -3/+19Why do people continuously ignore the reality that commodities traders are the ones who set the prices for everything from oil to orange juice. I swear people who complain about the costs of consumables would do well to watch Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd twice through.
- djbon2112, on 10/11/2007, -2/+18Once again, OIL IS A COMMODITY ON THE OPEN MARKET. Seriously, stop ***** bitching about its price. If you don't want to pay it, don't buy a gas-guzzling SUV or pickup for gods sakes!
In Europe the prices are high, but no one is bitching. Why? LOOK AT THE CARS. They don't have any mammoth SUVs or other ***** like that, they have tiny cars that get the job done. - malhussaini, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16good job on the Gmail link btw..
- atbnet, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15And owning a car there is a luxury. They have better public transportation with trains running between countries, buses, subways, etc.
- chriskzoo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15Why do people think $4 a gallon is expensive and $6 for a Double Shot Venti Carmel Machiato is reasonable?
- SPECOPS, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15The supply hasn't changed, the demand, however, has. You don't make record profits (#1 in the U.S. businesses) with a shortage of supply. Check this out: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/feature_articles/2004/worldoilsupply/oilsupply04.html
- Alphabet, on 10/11/2007, -15/+26who the ***** cares about inflation. The chart fails to take into account that it IS CHEAPER TODAY TO GET OIL FROM THE GROUND than it was years ago.
It's like trying to compare the cost of a computer chip's processing power. It's so much cheaper to make a powerful computer chip today than 20 years ago, but hey, let's try to make a chart to compare cost vs processing power adjusted by inflation too!!! - johnpaul191, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13...or they will get a federal bailout (like the airlines and corn farmers).
- videolab, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10If you look at the gross profit margin that Chevron has on its products it comes out to about 8-9 percent. Same goes for Exxon. This is in line with most other markets. The thing is Americans buy big ass gas wasting SUV's and the like so they sell a crapton of the stuff. If I remember my economics right if you sell a lot of a product that makes even a little bit of money then you make a lot of money. Look at Apples profit margins they are around 20 percent. How much do people bitch about how much iPods cost. If you don't like the cost of gas ride a vespa. Don't get me wrong I think that the gas companies are evil, and try their best to stifle development of non-poluting alternatives. Gouging not really killing the planet yes. Personally I think that gas should be more expensive to ensure the development of more earth friendly alternatives.
- PainCompliance, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10I have heard that the two other things affecting the price of gas in the US is that there is a greater demand coming from China now, I guess more and more people are allowed to own cars, along with warp speed acceleration of their industrial base, and of course their move towards a capitalistic economy. The other thing that I heard was that oil stocks or futures- I forget which- are now being traded more in Euros, whereas it used to be traded almost exclusively in US dollars.
I might be a little off on the specifics, I just remember reading this someplace. - redrock34, on 10/11/2007, -14/+23This is how it works: The Earth does not have an unlimited supply of oil. As oil becomes harder to find and extract, the prices go up. So in reality, the price of gas will only go up. Class dismissed.
- PotatoSalad, on 10/11/2007, -10/+18The oil companies make very little on gas, only $0.05-0.06 per $1.00 of gas sold. Their larger profit margin is a result of investing in other petroleum related industries (plastics, paints, etc). It varies from state to state, but in Georgia the government here rakes in an average of $0.24 per $1.00 of gas sold. Who should we be pissed at more?
- m3mn0n, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Almost as stupid as someone linking me to their my documents folder.
- nite23, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8yup...
Americans, stop whining, ditch your gas guzzlers, and buy normal, small, fuel efficient cars like the rest of the world drives... - cbergeron, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9@tacodealer
When will my fellow American's realize what commodity means!?! I'm so sick and tired of people complaining about gas prices but not taking any action. ***** THAT!
http://www.digg.com/business_finance/How_high_gas_prices_got_me_a_free_car
If you digg me down, please be prepared to defend yourself. I am 100% correct. Use less fuel, and you help your country 10x over. - drunkenoaf, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Oh ***** diddums. In the UK it's >$10 a gallon (just under £1/litre) because of tax. I'd love the price of petrol to be half of what it is here; America, be thankful that you have your gas as cheap as you do.
- 00hkelly, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10Americans don’t have it that bad I would love petrol to be $4 a galleon over here in the UK. Petrol here is 90p-£1 which is roughly $2. There are 3.8 litres in a galleon so we pay approximately $8 per galleon or DOUBLE what you pay. Look for a prevention not a cure, drive more economical cars etc. Instead of complaining about the price of running them.
- purrp, on 10/11/2007, -6/+13@Fr4nk2012: you're my hero. So much sarcasm in one single post is a beautiful thing :)
Had to shake my head at the headline though, seeing how the U.S. still has some of the cheapest gas in the world. - BESTenemy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Argument comparing water to gas would only be valid if both were either fuel, or drinks.
A pound of chocolate's more expensive then a pound of heating coal. Yet you don't see ladies munching on coal while trying to combat soap-opera induced hysterias.
Food is not fuel, so why should it cost the same? - Urusai, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Futures markets are pure parasite speculation and should be banned or regulated as gambling.
- loves2spooge, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Try living in England....
- clclark33, on 10/11/2007, -5/+11@SPECOPS...
I'm sick of hearing about this "record profits" argument. It's ignorance at it's finest. The politicians get everyone in an uproar about the "evil" oil companies and their record profits.... it's because they sold record amounts of their product. The profit MARGIN that oil companies make per dollar sold is around 6%... That is a very LOW profit margin. It's not their fault all these fools in their 12MPG vehicles buy record amounts of their product. The profit margin of the oil industry pales in comparison to your average bank, or even retail stores. Retail's average markup is at least 50% (though that's before overhead). The average American would do well to study economics. - bunnybash, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8@ Bestenemy
wait... you guys DON'T drink gas... i saw Fosters beer everywhere in bars in america... - Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6@neeyo: Oil is traded in dollars. The strength of the dollar compared to other currencies don't affect the price of oil for Americans, therefore there's no currency risk for Americans as far as oil is concerned. This is one of the benefits of the dollar over other currencies. However, if the dollar keeps dropping, we'll see how long the OPEC countries will keep up with this. European goods are getting more expensive for dollar holders.
- tybris, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Still cheaper than Europe has been for the last 10 years.
- dykesat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Thank you sir!
On a related note, how many more stories about gas prices do we need on digg? Does anyone else remember the days when digg was about technology and the user base was a bit more intelligent?
Digg is now a great place for people with ADD. I can post this comment here and probably not get dugg down since those types don't have the attention span to read this far down.
Enough of that tangent... Bottom line: We drive too much. And don't worry, you'll pay. - 0crabby0, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8Did you notice the price of diesel has remained the same as a month ago?
Big trucks aren't being soaked as much as family drivers. - beijingdave, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I have a friend who works for Aramco in Saudi Arabia. He told me that between midnight on New Years and 6:00 am the next morning, their entire annual operational budget is covered. Everything else is gravy. Scary.
- AhmedF, on 10/11/2007, -5/+10@jeff - that is a simple thought. While it may reflect inflation from 1979, that entire argument is moot because it didn't hold for so long. This isn't around averages - its about trends. And the trend in the last decade has been ... well, I think the parent's numbers speak for themselves.
- irvman21, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Exxon Mobil had 39 billion in profit on 377,000 billion in revenue.
A 10% profit margin doesn't seem excessive to me. - FuzzyBunny, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7As someone who works in the oil and gas business, one of my biggest pet peeves is how just about everyone seems to feel like their being ripped off at the pump but 99% of them have absolutely no clue what goes into producing, refining, and transporting that gasoline to their car.
This is a good article and it covers most of the basics of why oil costs what it does. It does miss some other major contributing factors though, primarily the recent modernization of the BRIC nations (which comprise nearly 1/2 the world's population), and the continued depletion of cheaper oil reserves forcing producers to go after more difficult and, therefore, more expensive oil. However, his conclusion is spot on. If Americans want cheaper gas they need to be conserving more energy, end of story. - n0de, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6***** hell...
yanks - get a passport, there's a world outside where you live. - zosobaggins, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/102203/gas-is-so-expensive.gif
:P -
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