Gas Prices

[El_Phil]

No war profitering is what drove the US. Selling arms to any country that had money, whatever their ideology.

Why on earth would the oil firms support each other in the the petrol biz? It is not worth that much effort as the potential rewards are, in the scheme of things, tiny and the punishment if caught immense. Remember Standard Oil?

The higher petrol goes in price, the more attractive other systems become. Hell perhaps some Americans may start walking places.... Only joking.

One simple question: Oil is now more expensive, hence petrol is more expensive. So why the hell shouldn't you pay more for it? No one is making massive extra profits off petrol, it's still:

Cost of oil + refining costs + Misc cost (transport, etc) + thin profit margin = Pump price.

Either the price of petrol goes up or the oil firms start making a loss on every gallon of petrol. It costs more to make, so of course it costs more to buy at the pump. You have nothing at all to complain about, it's like complaining that Strawberries are expensive in November. When things are rare they cost more.

[Phoenix-D]

El_Phil said:
Either the price of petrol goes up or the oil firms start making a loss on every gallon of petrol. It costs more to make, so of course it costs more to buy at the pump. You have nothing at all to complain about, it's like complaining that Strawberries are expensive in November. When things are rare they cost more.

Try this one.

The cost of a barrel of oil goes up, so the cost of gas goes up.

Except that barrel of oil will not be arriving at gas stations as gas for WEEKS. The gas currently being sold is the gas made from the much lower priced oil!

[Xrati]

That's a good point Phoenix, but that is not the point I'm trying to make. My point is not that gas should be cheaper or that strawberries should be more expensive in winter. My point is that competition drives prices down and keeps companies looking for better ways (cheaper) of producing their product. WE HAVE NO CHOICE right now! If you don't use gas or diesel, what do you use? The auto industry hasn't exactly embraced hybrid cars until just recently. I'm not even going to argue the point that Americans should walk more, I agree with that. I fill my car up once a month and I walk whenever possible so like I said in an earlier post, We need to use cars when we need them, instead of wasting resources.

El_Phil, I am not a "card carrying Commie". I think if I were one, we wouldn't be here on this board expressing our thoughts and the Internet would have never exisited.

[El_Phil]

Well Phoenix yes that is true, but it's also true that when the price of oil goes down so does the price of petrol. You cannot have it both ways.

Xrati: 1. Why should the US car trade make efficient cars or develop hybrids? Most US consumers just wanted a big engine and plenty of crushed velour interiors. That or a F150 pickup truck. Fuel efficient cars and hybrids didn't sell.The US was offered the choice and didn't choose it, now your living with the consequences.
2. So you invented the internet? Bugger me rigid! There was me thinking it was a combination of work by DARPA and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Clearly I was wrong and it was in fact all your work. Truly you learn something every day.

[Xrati]

No Phil, I think you should read the words again. If we were under communism, the Internet would not exist at all. Such freedoms would not be allowed. But thanks for thinking that someone like myself could even begin to create the Internet! I am flattered!

[El_Phil]

I think your confusing "communism" and "dictatorship" there. A surprisingly common mistake.

Even so if the US was under a dictatorship that surpressed all freedoms there'd still be a internet in the rest of the world, a bit less stuff on it but on the plus side less idiots. Swings and roundabouts.

[Phoenix-D]

El_Phil said:
Well Phoenix yes that is true, but it's also true that when the price of oil goes down so does the price of petrol. You cannot have it both ways.

Correct. However that's not what I was *****ing about.

When the price of oil goes -up-, gas prices track it very, very closely..even though, again, the oil won't be delivered as gas for weeks.

When the price of oil goes -down- prices DON'T track if closely at all. For exactly the same reason I stated above: the oil hasn't been delivered as gas yet. Funny how it only works in one direction, isn't it?

[El_Phil]

Not really, or at least I don't see anyone else laughing.

[Xrati]

I guess the only option is to get a horse!