$3.99/gal.

[Skip N]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Am I the only one thinking that if Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech shooter)
had gone and blown away 32 Exxon - Mobil execs who have been screwing us royally and making BILLIONS each quarter instead of those innocent students,
most people would not have mind that or even enjoyed it !!!

Dude thats a pretty sick comment to make.

[BW from AZ]

They got us alright. Example: mid 70's electric company begged everyone to cut back their usage. End result was higher rates to off set the lost revenue. They get a raise for putting out less power.

[MAC]

Originally Posted by BW from AZ

They got us alright. Example: mid 70's electric company begged everyone to cut back their usage. End result was higher rates to off set the lost revenue. They get a raise for putting out less power.

That is exactly why they won't bring any of the dormant fuel processing areas back on line.

[wheresmy50]

Gasoline prices in Europe are due to high taxes on gasoline there. Everyone blames Exxon, but gas is a commodity. If you want to do something about gasoline prices, focus on the tax portion and call your congressman.

[fishpoopoo]

i sound like a broken record ... but ...

1) you can't blame President Bush for record gasoline prices

2) you can't blame oil companies for record gasoline prices

3) blame refinery capacity shortages in the u.s. for record gasoline prices.

4) refinery shminery you say? we haven't had ONE NEW refinery built in decades, largely because of stringent ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS. the existing infrastructure is going full-tilt boogie to keep up with demand now AND IS SHOWING STRAIN. also, Hurricane Katrina took some refinery capacity offline.

5) damn chinks and stinky vindaloos are hogging the world's oil that rightfully belong in MY pickup truck. let those bastards run their economies on rickshaws.

6) before this all blew up:
-> average gas tax in dollars per gallon in U.S.A: 25%
-> average gas tax in dollars per gallon in Europe: 75%

7) If unleaded 87 octane gasoline for autos goes above $3.25 (already well above this for boats), I'm gonna be spending a lot of time at my reloading or fly-tying benches this summer, cuz I ain't gonna be driving up to RI or MA at this rate. Sad to say, we're gonna have to think about saving up for the winter heating season. BOHICA, baby.

[Mr. Sandman]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

i sound like a broken record ... but ...

1) you can't blame President Bush for record gasoline prices

2) you can't blame oil companies for record gasoline prices

3) blame refinery capacity shortages in the u.s. for record gasoline prices.

4) refinery shminery you say? we haven't had ONE NEW refinery built in decades, largely because of stringent ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS. the existing infrastructure is going full-tilt boogie to keep up with demand now AND IS SHOWING STRAIN. also, Hurricane Katrina took some refinery capacity offline.

5) damn chinks and stinkies are hogging the world's oil that rightfully belong in MY pickup truck. let those bastards run their economies on rickshaws.

6) If gasoline goes above $3.25, I'm gonna be spending a lot of time at my reloading or fly-tying benches this summer, cuz I ain't gonna be driving up to RI or MA at this rate.

Right on! Also we have not built a nuke plant in decades either. Guess how much Co2 and gloabal warming gasses they produce?....nada zip bupkiss. We need to:
1) Build more refineries today.
2) Drill in Alaska today
3) build conventional nuke plants
4) invest in atomic research for next gen nuke plants (read: no waste)

[RIROCKHOUND]

I agree.
Probably one of the greener supporters of Nuke's out there.
Alaska... maybe not. I would rather see a lot of the $$ should go towards investing in better recovery methods. they are getting deeper and more out of existing holes,

and #4 is right on. Nuke w/o Yucca Mtn is a good thing!

[Flaptail]

Bassturbed hit the nail on the head.

Scene #1, City Hall meeting room

"Uh, Ladies and Gentlemenwe are here before your zoning board and Town Government officials to ask permission to build a new refinery in the souteast corner of your town, it will bring jobs and added tax revenues to your city"

'A refinery'? "Not in my town, we don't want no stinking dirty oil refinery in our town, we'll call out the tree huggers, IFAW, The Sierra Club, The conservaion Law Foundation"! Try the next town over!"

"We did sir, every town and city weve asked has turned us down and the places we already have plants won't let us expand and modernize"

"So okay then that's it? "Okay then, sorry we asked" "Thank you all for your time".

Scene #2, in the company car outside city hall after the meeting adjourned.

"Better call the Board and tell them we got rejected" "okay, but you know the stock holders won't like this" "Ah well we will just have to raise the prices to meet sales and revenue expectations as usual" " I can't beleive how stupid the American public can be, if only they would let us build a few more plants, we could drop prices, supply would meet demand and with increased volume still make a profit by the increase sales" "I know, I will never understand it myself"

"I guess they just like paying more, business as usual" It's perfectly legal for now so........"

BEND OVER AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mr electric]

wonder of I can fit all my gear on the bus to Narragansett?

[MAC]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

i sound like a broken record ... but ...

1) you can't blame President Bush for record gasoline prices

2) you can't blame oil companies for record gasoline prices

3) blame refinery capacity shortages in the u.s. for record gasoline prices.

4) refinery shminery you say? we haven't had ONE NEW refinery built in decades, largely because of stringent ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS. the existing infrastructure is going full-tilt boogie to keep up with demand now AND IS SHOWING STRAIN. also, Hurricane Katrina took some refinery capacity offline.

5) damn chinks and stinky vindaloos are hogging the world's oil that rightfully belong in MY pickup truck. let those bastards run their economies on rickshaws.

6) If unleaded 87 octane gasoline for autos goes above $3.25 (already well above this for boats), I'm gonna be spending a lot of time at my reloading or fly-tying benches this summer, cuz I ain't gonna be driving up to RI or MA at this rate. Sad to say, we're gonna have to think about saving up for the winter heating season. BOHICA, baby.

U don't sound like a broken record to me Ben. But here's my thoughts on the refinery side. (I could be wrong)

Most businesses keep a portion of their income for equipment upkeep and maintenance before they divy everything up. This portion is to help pay for new equipment as old stuff wears out or breaks down. They also look at ways to streamline and perfect their operations to make them more cost efficient.

I don't believe the oil companies do things this way though. They would rather make due with what they have and force prices to stay up. Why would it be beneficial to them to bring some older unused refineries back on line? Sure it may possibly lower prices at the pump, making the general population happy (for a little while anyways). But with lower production cost per unit they will come up with lower profit per unit of measure. Doesn't make much sense from big business point of view that I can see.


Remember last year when it hit 3 bux+. Not 1 day after the hurricane big oil was placing blame on it for fuel going so high. Now they have seen that the people can't and won't do anything about it so they are ecstatic. Nothing going on now and oil (crude) is lower than it has been in a long time. So why is regular 2.99 a gallon now?

I say start making the Oil Co.s start paying for Iraq................

[fishpoopoo]

Dave,

I hear ya. Maybe there is some of this at play.

But ... refiners make the same money per gallon and don't benefit from rising oil prices.

The only companies that benefit are the guys who hunt for it and suck it out of the ground and deliver it to be processed into gasoline and other distillates. Their costs to get oil don't change but if prices go up, the extra price goes straight to the bottom line. Not so with refiners.

You have to distinguish refineries from exploration & production companies. Some do both.

The environmental regulations for new refineries are onerous. Not only EPA and state regs, but a lot of NIMBY opposition too. It is what it is.

We wouldn't have too many problems if we had more capacity to refine sour crude (higher sulfur content), of which there is a fairly good supply.

[Joe]

There are a lot of boaters and SUV/truck owners who figure they could afford the vehicle and the insurance, but they did not factor in a significant increase in fuel costs.

The car and boating industries spent a lot of money and convinced America that big trucks/suv's and boating were affordable - this is a reality check that they are not....Sell the boat, sell the truck, cut your losses before it gets worse.