consumerist.com— As gas costs rise to $4 a gallon and oil companies earn around $100 billion each year, it's a good time to question what really goes into the price gas.
May 29, 2007View in Crawl 4
Forgive me ahead of time, but I have to do this to you all.Price of gas: $3.30/gallonPrice of coffee drink @ Starbucks: $18-$34/gallon...Price of a martini at any bar : $100+ /gallon.....Really.do the fricken math people.As long as you WE will pay $4+ for bottled water and $30+ for coffee, and $100+ for alcohol... The oil companies would be crazy to charge us any less.Again.. Sorry.
Am I the only one to grow tired of this daily dose of "gas is so expensive" and "oil companies are bad" ?Seriously, I don't hear so many complains about microsoft earning way more than the average oil company (and this is before even taking into account that you can trust gas to power your car) (please, no flame war here. MS is an example. The idea stands for all companies earning a couple billion dollars, and there are a lot of them).The thing is just that people in the US are used to cheap gas and need something to bitch about. Seriously, you are not even economically sensitive to changes in gas prices. I read Recently in The Economist that a 100% price surge would reduce consumption by less than 2%.
This has nothing to do with refining capacity - that is a myth. If there was an issue with refining capacity, we would be seeing shortages of gasoline. Even after Katrina and Rita, gasoline shortages were short-lived and limited to specific.
@MAJORstrasser"Such as in your case: you're only going to be towing your boat around, what, a half dozen days out of the year?"Um, more in the range of about 100 trips to the lake and back each year. The lake that I boat on is only about 10 miles from my house and that's pretty much where I spend all of my free time during the warm months. At $55 a pop to rent a tow vehicle, that s**t would add up FAST.Also worth taking into consideration is the advantages to driving a 4WD vehicle when you live in a climate with a lot of snow. While it's not my primary reason for owning an SUV, I do have a high appreciation for how much easier it is to get around town after a snowstorm when the streets are a wreck. All things taken into consideration, including the short distances that I routinely have to drive which mitigates the fuel consumption issue to a great degree, an SUV is simply the best, most practical choice of a vehicle for me. It is capable of doing things that I need my vehicle to do, without requiring me to jump through all the hoops that would be necessary to accomplish those same things if I drove a smaller, more "PC" vehicle.
Gas in the U.S. is not expensive, on the contrary the U.S. enjoys the lowest prices for high quality gas in the world.I am in thailand right now. When the price is figured into gallons it is roughly the same as in the U.S.. Factor in the facts that it is of much poorer quality and that the median per capita annual income here is less than a quarter of that in America, it becomes more apparent that maybe the U.S. doesn't have it so bad after all.
The higher price on the futures market makes it more expensive for refiners to acquire crude to refine into gas. When the refiner's work is done, the emerging gas will be priced accordingly higher. This raises the rack price and the prices on the spot markets. Oil companies and jobbers with long-term contracts might be insulated from the higher price, depending on their contracts. <a class="user" href="http://www.onlinecheck.com">http://www.onlinecheck.com</a>
The rest of the world?? so you are saying because we are questioning the logic of something, and that because you were are willing down to lie down and take it, that we do not have the right to complain?? Hmm think we say this a couple hundred some odd years agoSorry, but I will reserve my right to complain. Because you haven't done something about your scenario and choose to take it, doesn't mean I have to.
It is very obvious that the current administration has been pushing to drill for oil in Alaska and within the U.S. and coastal regions of the U.S. They will allow the price of oil to escalate, and not slow this problem by tapping into our vast oil reserves, as President Clinton had threatened to do. Unless the American citizens bend to the will of the current administration, and allow domestic massive domestic oil exploration, they will not help us .....
If oil companies pumped more oil, we wouldn't have cheaper gasoline, they'd have a surplus. 5 billion barrels sold on the American Mercantile Exchange, yet only 31,000 barrels actually fulfilled. In other words 99.99938% of the "demand" for oil is Wall Street bulls**t. Yes, the demand for real oil (as opposed to on-paper oil) is up, but there's no shortage of oil. Oil could be down to $30/barrel almost overnight. All it would take is a couple of major investors to sell and sell short their futures. It would cause a scare and everyone else would sell and sell short. Oil prices have more to do with betting on the ponies than it does with scarcity of natural resources. That's the point of this article and the author's correct.
Please.......everyone who commented has regurgitated what they've heard from the media.....gas is expensive because there's not enough oil, demand is too high, there's a war in iraq, blah, blah, blah.....WAKE UP! Gas is expensive because there are greedy people who enjoy taking money out of your pocket and putting it in theirs. Why does the government put taxes on gas? Why do oil companies import from countries that hate the United States? Why aren't there alternative fuel sources available? The gasoline engine is one of the most inefficient ways to produce energy, but it has dominated the way cars are powered for over one hundred years. Tell me that with all the great minds in the world, we can't find a better way to power our vehicles.
travisx2May 30, 2007
Forgive me ahead of time, but I have to do this to you all.Price of gas: $3.30/gallonPrice of coffee drink @ Starbucks: $18-$34/gallon...Price of a martini at any bar : $100+ /gallon.....Really.do the fricken math people.As long as you WE will pay $4+ for bottled water and $30+ for coffee, and $100+ for alcohol... The oil companies would be crazy to charge us any less.Again.. Sorry.
dreagenMay 30, 2007
The problem is things like This:<a class="user" href="http://digg.com/business_finance/BP_Shuts_100_000_Barrels_of_Alaska_Oil">http://digg.com/business_finance/BP_Shuts_100_000_Barrels_of_Alaska_Oil</a>
thingylabMay 30, 2007
Am I the only one to grow tired of this daily dose of "gas is so expensive" and "oil companies are bad" ?Seriously, I don't hear so many complains about microsoft earning way more than the average oil company (and this is before even taking into account that you can trust gas to power your car) (please, no flame war here. MS is an example. The idea stands for all companies earning a couple billion dollars, and there are a lot of them).The thing is just that people in the US are used to cheap gas and need something to bitch about. Seriously, you are not even economically sensitive to changes in gas prices. I read Recently in The Economist that a 100% price surge would reduce consumption by less than 2%.
mouskyMay 30, 2007
This has nothing to do with refining capacity - that is a myth. If there was an issue with refining capacity, we would be seeing shortages of gasoline. Even after Katrina and Rita, gasoline shortages were short-lived and limited to specific.
subliminalurgeMay 30, 2007
@MAJORstrasser"Such as in your case: you're only going to be towing your boat around, what, a half dozen days out of the year?"Um, more in the range of about 100 trips to the lake and back each year. The lake that I boat on is only about 10 miles from my house and that's pretty much where I spend all of my free time during the warm months. At $55 a pop to rent a tow vehicle, that s**t would add up FAST.Also worth taking into consideration is the advantages to driving a 4WD vehicle when you live in a climate with a lot of snow. While it's not my primary reason for owning an SUV, I do have a high appreciation for how much easier it is to get around town after a snowstorm when the streets are a wreck. All things taken into consideration, including the short distances that I routinely have to drive which mitigates the fuel consumption issue to a great degree, an SUV is simply the best, most practical choice of a vehicle for me. It is capable of doing things that I need my vehicle to do, without requiring me to jump through all the hoops that would be necessary to accomplish those same things if I drove a smaller, more "PC" vehicle.
mstairmanMay 31, 2007
i think all the middle class should ban gas fot 2 days ,its the rich getting richer
khyberkitsuneJun 1, 2007
This account has been closed by the user
khyberkitsuneJun 1, 2007
This account has been closed by the user
thdeciderJun 3, 2007
Gas in the U.S. is not expensive, on the contrary the U.S. enjoys the lowest prices for high quality gas in the world.I am in thailand right now. When the price is figured into gallons it is roughly the same as in the U.S.. Factor in the facts that it is of much poorer quality and that the median per capita annual income here is less than a quarter of that in America, it becomes more apparent that maybe the U.S. doesn't have it so bad after all.
thdeciderJun 3, 2007
Ok, perhaps I should say the lowest prices are in the U.S., except for countries in anarchy or controlled by senseless populist dictators.
ghalinNov 19, 2007
The higher price on the futures market makes it more expensive for refiners to acquire crude to refine into gas. When the refiner's work is done, the emerging gas will be priced accordingly higher. This raises the rack price and the prices on the spot markets. Oil companies and jobbers with long-term contracts might be insulated from the higher price, depending on their contracts. <a class="user" href="http://www.onlinecheck.com">http://www.onlinecheck.com</a>
thepainfultruthMar 2, 2008
The rest of the world?? so you are saying because we are questioning the logic of something, and that because you were are willing down to lie down and take it, that we do not have the right to complain?? Hmm think we say this a couple hundred some odd years agoSorry, but I will reserve my right to complain. Because you haven't done something about your scenario and choose to take it, doesn't mean I have to.
j72289Apr 10, 2008
Check out <a class="user" href="http://www.freeonlinegascards.com">http://www.freeonlinegascards.com</a> a one of a kind site dedicated to giving out free gas cards! Signup is quick and easy.
shula1Apr 15, 2008
It is very obvious that the current administration has been pushing to drill for oil in Alaska and within the U.S. and coastal regions of the U.S. They will allow the price of oil to escalate, and not slow this problem by tapping into our vast oil reserves, as President Clinton had threatened to do. Unless the American citizens bend to the will of the current administration, and allow domestic massive domestic oil exploration, they will not help us .....
scrubyApr 23, 2008
If oil companies pumped more oil, we wouldn't have cheaper gasoline, they'd have a surplus. 5 billion barrels sold on the American Mercantile Exchange, yet only 31,000 barrels actually fulfilled. In other words 99.99938% of the "demand" for oil is Wall Street bulls**t. Yes, the demand for real oil (as opposed to on-paper oil) is up, but there's no shortage of oil. Oil could be down to $30/barrel almost overnight. All it would take is a couple of major investors to sell and sell short their futures. It would cause a scare and everyone else would sell and sell short. Oil prices have more to do with betting on the ponies than it does with scarcity of natural resources. That's the point of this article and the author's correct.
undeniableurgeJul 17, 2008
Please.......everyone who commented has regurgitated what they've heard from the media.....gas is expensive because there's not enough oil, demand is too high, there's a war in iraq, blah, blah, blah.....WAKE UP! Gas is expensive because there are greedy people who enjoy taking money out of your pocket and putting it in theirs. Why does the government put taxes on gas? Why do oil companies import from countries that hate the United States? Why aren't there alternative fuel sources available? The gasoline engine is one of the most inefficient ways to produce energy, but it has dominated the way cars are powered for over one hundred years. Tell me that with all the great minds in the world, we can't find a better way to power our vehicles.
transuraniczNov 24, 2008
There has been a fair amount of discussion about energy policies in the recent past, aided in no small part by the interest generated in the recently concluded U.S. presidential election. There seems to have been some facts that were thrown about that is being taken as received wisdom... we need to bust some myths here. More at <a class="user" href="http://globalenergytalent.blogspot.com/2008/11/energy-myth-and-reality.html">http://globalenergytalent.blogspot.com/2008/11/ene ...</a>
malierJan 18, 2009
now that oil is cheap, the texas economy is slowing---needs to even out!see graphs here<a class="user" href="http://www.in-oilandgas.com">http://www.in-oilandgas.com</a>