The Law of Supply & Demand doesnt work!!

[Chaitika]

The reality is that until people start to reduce their dependence on oil, the manufacturers will continue to charge as they see fit. And as for change, it's already happening. The big 3 are seeing sales on SUVs and trucks drop by big numbers, somewhere between 20-30%. Consumers are quickly moving to smaller cars with the idea of saving money, and lots of it.

I've already drastically changed my driving habits. I spend 50% on gas what I spent last year. I'm also not planning on travelling as far on holidays as I have in the past. The company I work for has already reduced fuel consumption in our fleet by about 25% and is shooting for a 50% reduction by the end of this year.

I'm not prepared to wait until the oil prices come down. They won't. And anyone thinks that local drilling is going to occur so that the average joe saves money, think again. Those reserves are meant for the military. Jets and aircraft carriers need plenty of fossil fuel.

 

[Spankbelly]

The changes that need to be made are so drastic and expensive that the only way to cause them is to keep energy prices high.
Stop thinking sort term economic slow down.
Start thinking Soylent Green.

 

[Dan F]

For the record I know there are no seals in Florida...

Ive read several times that the profit margin/unit that gas companies make is very very low compared to other companies. Most LFS mark up their fish 300%...I dont hear any *****ing and crying.

Its just the the oil companies happen to have a product that is highly in demand so of course they are making money. What is wrong with that?

Say the next big source of energy are donkey farts, once everyone is dependant on donkey farts and the "donkey fart companies" are making good money, you are still going to have people complain about how much money they are making.

Drilling in America will create many many new American jobs, lower the price of oil for Americans, and give less money to people that hate America. Yes we need and we will get away from oil, but the time isnt now. The time will come when our pocketbooks decide for it to come.

BTW, Im surprised no one has mentioned coal. Its a good source of cheap energy that is abundant in America...again it boils down to protecting the damn seals instead of American families...

Wow, it's nice to hear somebody sticking up for the poor little oil companies.

While your LFS does mark up fish 300% their PROFITS are very low comparatively. Many locally owned stores barely get by (it's a labor of love!).

Your point about our pocketbooks making the decision is right on track. My wallet says "Buy an electric car".

Coal is a plentiful but dirty source of energy. Global warming is real and increasing coal use is only going to accelerate the problem.

 

[scubasteve06]

Sympathy is not what the oil companies need, as it was said in 1995 1996 we knew this was coming, and yet our political leaders who claim to be so on top of things let it get this bad willingly or knowingly we will never know, but something has to change.

 

[water_baby83]

Why not find a way to utelize solar panels on cars instead of making them electric? Gas tanks can still be included (as we all know its not sunny all year), but by having panels on the roofs of cars, and a way to harness that energy to a "battery" of sorts would mean that our nationwide oil consumption would be dramatically reduced during colder months, and virtually eliminated during summer months. They figured out how to opperate homes and businesses on solar energy, as well as other things, so why not cars!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I mean seriously, we figured out how to fly to the moon, we have built deep sea submersible crafts, discovered genetic cloning, and invented the internet, just to name a FEW - Why the F**K can't we, as the "Superior" species figure out how to fix this problem. The resources are everywhere and lord knows we can come up with the technology, but instead they would rather have a pissing contest with other countries, place stress on our economy, lose allies in the process, and continue to dig us further in the S**t hole. This is ridiculous. That's it, I am running for president.

 

[David R]

BTW a surprising percentage of what I am paying at the pump is Govt taxes. Like around 30%. Some of which is tax on an amount that has already been taxed. And taxed.
I can't blame Shell for that.

Ha! Taxes make up nearly half the cost per litre here, there si a petrol tax and ACC levy on the pre-GST cost, then we have to pay 12.5% GST (Goods and Services Tax) on top of that! So we're paying tax on a tax.

Surely someone could design an electric car with solar pannels and the ability charge the battery when coasting down hill that would get a decent run out of the batterys?!

 

[ShadowStryder]

price drop does not happen instantly... what we pumping now are the oil that was bought month before...

do you know that company like morgan and stanely are buy future Commodity (yet produced ) such as electricity, oil, orange juice and ect... that is to be delivered in the future?

But when they raise the price of a barrel, the prices go up almost instantly.
And that is for the gas/oil that was purchased three months ago for lower per barrel prices. It should go both ways.
Screw the oil companies and the top two oil men who run our government, who are owned by the same entities. That would be Bush/Cheney for those who are unaware.

 

[cassharper]

thats why we should all drive a toyota prius

The toyota prius takes over 100 million BTU's of energy to create. This means you have to drive the sucker 50k miles before the carbon foot print of creating it will be made up for! If you want to cut down on carbon foot prints, but an early 90's economy car. The carbon foot print from production was paid off a long time ago, and you can still find cars that get in to the 40's in mpg. I bought an old Geo Metro (3 ROCKIN CYLINDERS!!!) from a friend for $50, for fun (to practice J-turns in parking lots mostly). With 120k miles and a hard life, it still gets 38mpg on a bad day.

While humans are stupid creatures that evolved just enough to know how to rape our ecosystem and kill ourselves, I don't think our demand of oil is going anywhere. Hydrogen, solar, zinc (tis true!), perpetual energy and all the other proposed alternative fuel sources cost WAY too much to produce for our bastardized instant gratification culture. Interestingly, I did see a method of producing oil that has almost the same molecular make-up as carbon based oil be produced by green algae. While their plant is only at 10k barrels/day capacity right now (not even a dent!), think of what a little government funding could do? The only difference is a load less carbon emmisions. I think alternatives like this have a higher possibility of coming to fruition because it doesn't involve the complete realignment of one of the largest industries in the world. I didn't say it was the best choice, but the most likely.

Hate to be a thread killer, but this isn't the law of supply and demand. It is a mixture of Law of Gains Sharing and Cass' Law. This nifty idea states that: Wherever a greedy douche bag can think of ways to fatten thy wallet, said greedy douche bag will surely do so.

 

[scubasteve06]

But when they raise the price of a barrel, the prices go up almost instantly.
And that is for the gas/oil that was purchased three months ago for lower per barrel prices. It should go both ways.
Screw the oil companies and the top two oil men who run our government, who are owned by the same entities. That would be Bush/Cheney for those who are unaware.

I'm glad this was finally brought up in the clear as I feel the same way. Cheney is the VP of Haliburton one of the biggest oil companies in the world. Gas prices didn't sky rocket until Bush/Cheney got in the White House. It just to ironic and conincidental for me.

 

[dragonfish]

But when they raise the price of a barrel, the prices go up almost instantly.
And that is for the gas/oil that was purchased three months ago for lower per barrel prices. It should go both ways.
Screw the oil companies and the top two oil men who run our government, who are owned by the same entities. That would be Bush/Cheney for those who are unaware.

I'm glad this was finally brought up in the clear as I feel the same way. Cheney is the VP of Haliburton one of the biggest oil companies in the world. Gas prices didn't sky rocket until Bush/Cheney got in the White House. It just to ironic and conincidental for me.