1300$ a second = good hourly rate for a job

[Sam1647545489]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/27/news/companies/exxon/index.htm

 

 

 

[Balian]

So someone tell me when this shit is considered price gouging..sp??

 

Someone should do something about this. This company made billions more this year than last year and we are stuck paying their retarded high price gas..

[dragknee66]

ya this is pretty f*cked up indeed

[wnaplay1647545503]

Why is there no public outcry for cheaper fuel prices. Is there something I am not getting? If they say fuel prices rise due to the cost of crude oil, how then are they making such a huge profit. Apparently greater than any other quarter. So not only do we have to compensate for the higher price of oil by paying more at the pump but also compensate the gas companies more than in the past to do their job, which is provide fuel? Why is nobody asking this question to the fuel companies until they get a response. I would at least feel better if they came out and said " its our fuel, we'll charge what we want". At least then I feel better about spending the $200+ a day in my company truck. Or feeling up personel vehicles, some of which I dont even drive anymore due to high gas prices. And of course our commander in chief wont stand up for us. Its funny how people in power stick together and say" fuck " the little guy. I wish I had just 1 min to ask these people in power some of these questions. I would do it on live tv so everyone can watch them squirm.

[Balian]

That is what I have always wanted to know. How do you go about saying anything, and even if you do, your one of how many people? Does one person really make a difference?

[mmrmnhrm]

They're making a huge-ass profit because they expected to be selling the stuff for a lot less than what they're actually getting. Cold economics... If oil were $5/bbl, it wouldn't make sense to drill in a lot of places that have only marginal quantity/quality. So the company just lets them sit. When oil starts reaching the break-even point on a field (let's say $20/bbl), they may build a couple rigs in the expectation that the field will soon become profitable when oil reaches $30/bbl. But then when you have 2 billion people (China + India) suddenly demand the stuff, plus religious nut jobs gunning people down and blowing shit up, the company can suddenly sell for $70/bbl, making $40/bbl of absolute pure profit they never expected to have. They'd have sold at $30/bbl, cause it would have made them money. But when folks are lining up to pay over twice that, why shouldn't they? Business is there to make money for their shareholders (are you one?), not to give people cheap gas.

[iwishiwascool]

They're making a huge-ass profit because they expected to be selling the stuff for a lot less than what they're actually getting. Cold economics... If oil were $5/bbl, it wouldn't make sense to drill in a lot of places that have only ....

 

I like that you are a hybrid owner and wrote this.

 

It all comes down to simple supply and demand. If they didnt charge a price that the market would bear, they would be doing a disservice to stock holders. You can complain about prices all day long but until you, your family, and everyone you have ever met join forces to decrease demand, prices will continue to rise. With capitalism, Honor is in the dollar and you'd best put your money where your mouth is (like chris) if you ever expect business to change.

[mmrmnhrm]

I like that you are a hybrid owner and wrote this.

Ehh, don't get too worked up. Deep down, I'm a libertarian and a capitalist. The oil companies are doing nothing more than providing their product at a price the world is willing to pay. Don't get me wrong, there's a certain glee in using the pumps half as often as I used to, but as Akula's 40mpg non-hybrid shows, you can do pretty good without all the fancy kit. My primary concern right now is whether this is a good time to pick up some oil stocks for dividends, or sit back and expect a sell-off in a month or two. Trends say buy, historical cyclicality says sell

[Total Sign]

Ehh, don't get too worked up. Deep down, I'm a libertarian and a capitalist. The oil companies are doing nothing more than providing their product at a price the world is willing to pay.

 

Perfectly said. If it weren't for this philosophy, most of us would not have the gas burners that we do.

[mmrmnhrm]

Does one person really make a difference?

Yes. Just ask Rosa Parks what one tired woman with sore feet can accomplish.

[iwishiwascool]

Ehh, don't get too worked up. Deep down, I'm a libertarian and a capitalist.

 

Which is why I liked that you drive one.

[smokin5s]

the question is, what can we do?

[OSUGT]

They're making a huge-ass profit because they expected to be selling the stuff for a lot less than what they're actually getting. Cold economics... If oil were $5/bbl, it wouldn't make sense to drill in a lot of places that have only marginal quantity/quality. So the company just lets them sit. When oil starts reaching the break-even point on a field (let's say $20/bbl), they may build a couple rigs in the expectation that the field will soon become profitable when oil reaches $30/bbl. But then when you have 2 billion people (China + India) suddenly demand the stuff, plus religious nut jobs gunning people down and blowing shit up, the company can suddenly sell for $70/bbl, making $40/bbl of absolute pure profit they never expected to have. They'd have sold at $30/bbl, cause it would have made them money. But when folks are lining up to pay over twice that, why shouldn't they? Business is there to make money for their shareholders (are you one?), not to give people cheap gas.

 

I 100% agree. I would also add that I think there is a fundamental problem with the way oil is brought to market. Speculation is killing us, not the oil companies. If someone offered you 10k for your ride and another guy offered you 20k, which would you take? Exactly what's going on in the commodities market. Speculators are pushing the price up based on fear, greed, geopolitical issues, etc.

 

The problem is that there is good supply in the world! We have to stop buying this crap that supply is soooo tight therefore we HAVE to charge these prices.

 

Regarding China. They are subsidizing their country's supply! Again, something needs to change (like not selling to govts) I honestly dont believe China would be the factor they are today if their people had to pay what the rest of us pay for gas/oil. If they paid normal prices, their demand would go down, supply rises, and the rest of us get some relief.

 

just my .02

[Drewhop]

the question is, what can we do?

 

Sell all our cars and buy hybrids. (Not gonna happen)

 

In all honesty until some viable high performance alternate fuel source is invented i dont see very many of us from this website doing anything about it.

[jeffmeden]

What do you do? Start an oil company! When there is a strongly demand driven market the difficulty of entry is greatly reduced since there is such a huge profit margin assumed with each unit sold. Its like if corn all of a sudden started selling for 3 times what it was... everyone would start farming again since it will make way more money than it did before.

 

Sooo, Anyone got an oil well in their back yard?

[KillJoy]

I thought Oil was bought and sold on an open market....like the Stock Market.

 

It sells to the highest bidder.

 

KillJoy

[mmrmnhrm]

I thought Oil was bought and sold on an open market....like the Stock Market.

 

It sells to the highest bidder.

That's a fair approximation of how it works. The futures market is sort of like a cross between the stock market and an farmer's auction, where buyers will bid up their prices like stocks, but a date is attached like a crop harvest or livestock delivery. Oil companies then sell to the most profitable combination that matches their production capability (they can't, for instance, sell a contract for 5 billion barrels at $80 in December 06, if their total capacity is only 1billion/month and they have no inventory, but they'll be happy to sell if someone offers a contract for 2 billion@83 in November... less total dollars, but a target they can meet)

[Sully]

Here's what I want to know...They are saying that gas prices are up because crude oil prices are rising... Ok, but how come you can still buy a quart of oil for the same price you could 5 years ago???? It just doesn't make sense.

[Science Abuse]

Gas is not a comodity, it is a neccesity. We are seeing now how much it effects our economy. they're making a wicked profit, we're struggling to fill our tanks, and the people in washington dont give a shit. The trouble is, you've got a president and a party who beleives "the economy" is means rich people, and that the cashflow of the actual masses doesn't me shit. They dont care how much money we have, as long as we spend it. 30 million people living paycheck-to-paycheck is exactly what they want, because it benifits their "economy". Unless of course, we're spending it, wich goes to compaines that made whatever they buy (like gas), who are also getting tax breaks for being rich, outsourceing jobs, and increasing their profits far beond what they could if they did things ethicaly.

 

I call it Trickle-up economics, officialy named Supply-side. And to convince the ignorant voting populus that its awsome, they simply quote the GNP, which says there's money coming in the country and moving around, but says nothing about who its going to, i.e. the fact that the top One percent of Americans control 40-50% of the money in this country. I take that back, they shouldn't be called Americans. its been 220 years, and were right back to an Aristocracy.

 

A country's strength is measured by the quality of life of its citizens, not the GNP.

If we divided the income of the US into thirds, we find that the top ten percent of the population gets a third, the next thirty percent gets another third, and the bottom sixty percent get the last third. If we divide the wealth of the US into thirds, we find that the top one percent own a third, the next nine percent own another third, and the bottom ninety percent claim the rest. (Actually, these percentages, true a decade ago, are now out of date. The top one percent are now estimated to own between forty and fifty percent of the nation's wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 95%.)

 

Why do we pay outrageous gas prices? Because we have to, you dont have a choice, you dont have power, and no one is going to help you. Certainly not a Republican. Hell there's a couple here that are saying that, in our capitalist society, its their right to exploit you. It's not supply and demand, its not a free market economy, is a group of people who control the oil, working together to keep the prices high.

 

How excited would you be if gas was $2.00 a gallon tomarrow? It'd be awsome, right? Wrong, it's preception. $2.00 is still more then it should be, but you've been paying so much more for so long that you would think it was cheap. they have total control of the market they sell to. We're a captive audience. Since this oil president has taken office, gas prices have risen 100%, do you think that's a coincedence? You think trouble overseas means anything? We've had much worse scurmishes in the sand, they've never effect it. did you know that the Oil has been flowing out of Iraq for quite some time? Lots of it, why aren't prices down. Reagan got permission to let oil companies drill in Alaska, do bring the prices down in the 80s....did they go down? No, not for a second. This president is doing the same things, and more.

 

Alot of you probably think I'm just using this as an excuse to attack the right. The simple fact of the matter is, youcant talk about the energy based economy without talking about them.

 

But I will concede that Oil isn't an just American problem, its a worldwide problem. You can't solve it by changine anything here, alone.

The worldwide distribution of wealth is scewed to something like one third of one percent controlling almost 30% of the worlds wealth.

[desperado]

I think the thing not mentioned here is that they are doing this off .08 per gallon profit. The last time I looked, the sticker on the pump said price included 48.9 cents tax per gallon, for the state and federal government. No one is asking the government for tax relief at the pumps.

 

Something else that is not mentioned, due to the tree huggers, we can't drill for oil in the US. This is not just in the Alaskan game preserve, this is anywhere. There are little bullshit wells going in on peoples private properity, but no major drilling operations are going on in new area's. There is oil in the US, some say more than what is in the middle east, but we can't get to it because of this. What's more, the oils is only part of the problem, the refineries are at capacity, and it's a bitch to get the tree huggers to back off to build one of those either. This is one of the few places that I lean far left, off the edge of left. I feel the government should tell people where something is going and if they don't like it they can fucking move. No one wants a oil refinery next door, but they have to go some fucking place. Anyone that questions this should take a look at Califorina and their power problems. They dont' allow power plants to be built of any reasonable capacity, so they have rolling blackouts.

 

 

Finally, it's really fucking funny that the people that will bitch about gas prices, something that requires thousands of people to drill for, pump out of the ground, the transport and refine into gas and motor oil. Then pump through pipelines that need constant monitoring and maintaining to bring to your local gas station, but that same twit will walk in that gas station and pay 6.40 a gallon (20 Oz bottle of water is a buck 128 Oz is 1 gallon) for fucking water and not bat an eye. I did some work for a company that bottles water, and got the tour. They have a line that comes in from the city water supply, it goes through a couple filters, and into the bottles, it takes 4 people to run the operation. Think about that the next time you BUY A BOTTLE OF WATER.

[Science Abuse]

Silly rabbit, Reagan showed us that letting them drill elsewhere does not lower prices at the pump. It reduces their overhead, but nothing they ever do to make it cheaper for them has ever made it down the line to us. No, I'm not letting them drill and build and fuckup the world around me so that they can make more money.