Fix for oil prices

[Brother Rockeye]

I totally agree with the vehicle use argument.We have a mid size car that gets 32 mpg that I hate to drive but do when going any distance.When the whole family(3 kids)goes to the city for supplies we take the bus(Suburban)because it will hold all of us and groceries etc. SAFELY and in comfort.
I don't drive my Ford diesel unless I'm hauling cattle or NEED it for work even tho it's respectable on fuel.My minor ranch related driving that requires a pickup is done with an old Ranger 1/4 ton.
Having said that,I can't run the baler with the car or ranger,and pay almost the same price for farm fuel.
On alternative fuels...
if you had an elevator full of wheat @ $5 a bushel,and an elevator full of modified wheat @ $2.50 would you clean out the $5 wheat before selling the $ 2.50 wheat?
you don't feed the new grain til the old grain is gone,especially when it was twice as much per bushel.

that's another "Canadian" perspective,might not apply to US folks.

(I still think politicians are a pack of self serving liars and thieves...but thats just my opinion.)

[fabsroman]

The one thing I don't understand, is why none of the large oil companies compete against one another on price? If there isn't enough supply because there aren't enough refineries, why can't somebody step in and build more refineries? Why isn't Chavez and Citgo undercutting the rest of the American oil companies?

Could the shortage issue be a result of OPEC, Chavez, and others rationing what they have? It is a limited resource, so I don't blame them for rationing.

Talk about price fixing, how about DeBeers. If there is ever price fixing, it has to be on diamonds. DeBeers and Russia are holding such a stock pile of diamonds that if they were released to the public the supply would far outweigh demand and the price would plunge.

I still cannot understand how the oil companies are making huge profits without some type of price fixing, or maybe they just know we will pay whatever for gas and they let the futures market figure everything out. It seems as though when the price for a future barrel of oil goes up, the next morning I see a price increase at the pump. We just hit a record high of $106 a barrel today, and that is traders trading in oil futures all over the world. Keep in mind that our weak dollar needs to compete with everybody else out there that wants oil.

[DogYeller]

Good news, maybe.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ry/energy/home

[skeeter@ccia.com]

We all know that once the demand for oil goes away...and oil isn't needed anymore...the price will have to go up again because now...the demand isn't there....so just like our taxing ..once people move out of an area because of taxes...the rest of the people that stick it out end up with a tax increase to cover the cost...yes...it happened here in the steel mill industry..they closed the mills..(not only closed the doors but tore to the ground to make darn sure they would not be opened again to make tanks, etc etc in case of war here..) .people lost their houses..moved away and the property tax increased by 3 x....yes...three times....one year they were a grand the next year they were 3 grand....and that made even more people loose their homes...so oil price here will still work out the same..they will only say there isn't the demand anymore so have to charge more..oh well...the way of the world...

[fabsroman]

Skeeter,

It just cannot work the way you think it does for oil. With property taxes, I guess it is possible because those are government driven, but who elected those government officials? You guys still had some control over that one, and probably more than over the price of oil.

If supply becomes too high and there isn't enough demand for oil, assuming that there is more than one supplier, the price has to come down. The suppliers don't want to store oil and pay for storage. If a bunch of suppliers have a lot of product and nobody to sell it to, you can bet that prices will be coming down. If people are moving away from oil, raising prices will only encourage more people to find an alternative.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

I agree Fabs in electing the people that raised the taxes in the first place but...they were already in office when the mills went down and that was their answer..raise taxes...sort of like all the promises we hear now from the politicians...but when they get in ...they wont do 1/2 they say...they will just blame it on the other party blocking it...but it sure would be nice if the oil prices did come down...the cheapest I pumped gas when I was a kid working in a gas station was 19 cents...during the gas wars...what happened to them?...I figured if Kwikfill was American oil and made gas in America...why couldn't' they just sell it at a buck fifty a gallon?..(isn't any gov minimum prices for gas is there?)..then create the gas wars like the 60's. I was a senior at high school with a GTO that was only 1 1/2 yrs old and made pmts by working at a gas station...wow...lost it when got drafted though..got a vw beetle when got out...never even think of that one now days. cars were cheap...gas was cheap...everything was cheap...and made in America.....oh well...have a nice day all...going ice fishing...won't be long ice gone...yee ha too...

[petey]

Blame the white collar stock traders in NYC that run the NYMEX up. They are the ones that set the price, not the oil producers, not the president, not congress. Same guys that set the price on pork bellies and orange juice

Smack a few of them around and maybe you'll pay less next week

[fabsroman]

Petey,

You have it absolutely right. These morons are speculating on oil prices. However, I'm betting that the American public can do it too. With the invent of the internet, the public in general has been able to put its hands in places that it shouldn't. One place is the stock market. Look at the fall that suffered 6 to 7 years ago. After that, people were feeding off the real estate boom and putting their money in real estate. Now, since nobody wants to touch the stock market or real estate because people got burned, how about the futures market. I have a client that decided to test the currency trading market, after her and her husband got burned on the real estate market. They bought a condo in Miami for $220K in 2005 and now it is only worth $180K. On top of that, they financed the entire thing. Guess what, she lost $3K on currency trading last year. When are people going to learn that getting rich quick isn't the norm, but usually happens over a lifetime. This is why we have the mess we currently have.

Wait until the demand for oil goes down and all these idiots are left holding futures that they cannot break even on. Gas will be really cheap then, but we probably won't need it that bad anyway.

[Valigator]

Fabs you always know how to get the blood moving dont ya. Well we can make this as complicated or as easy as ya want.

Rolling Stones........

I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

What might be parmount to one isnt always the way it is for everyone, life brings different priorities and needs, what might be important to you isnt always whats important to me, doesnt make it right ...doesnt make it wrong, just the way it is...

[fabsroman]

Yeah, but you won't hear me crying about the price of gas or the price of housing. It is what it is. Neither you nor I can change either, so make do with what you have.

You can't always get what you want,
So make do with what you have.

You and I can agree on that at least.

[Lilred]

I got a fix fer the oil prices...I got my beady lil eyes on a perty roan mare...lol

[PJgunner]

What with gas prices being what they are, and was I'm afraid they soon will be, I have been giving thought toward buying some little roller skate, probably a Toyota Corolla. I dunno if they make them with a flex-fuel option, but if ethanol gets shoved down my throat, our current two vehicles will either have to sit and rot or have certain part destroyed due to the corrossiveness of ethenol on certain plastic and rubber parts. it would probably cost a young fortune to get all those changed over, even if they were available.
So I have to weight the cost of a new vehicle over what it might save me in fuel costs over possibly having to convert my current paid for vehicles to a fuel I don't want.
My 93 toyota 4x4 pick up truck averages about 21 MPG. It has all of 84,271 miles on the odometer(I just checked) . That's 5,618 miles a year average on that one. The 1998 Ford Explorer is a bit more hungry at 15.9 city and 20.5 highway the last time I checked. It has a whopping 37,067 miles on the odometer which works out to 3,707 miles per year. We bought it to take trips to visit the kids that live out of state in Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Texas. Now, about the only time it gets used is when my wife goes to church. FWIW, that 20.5 MPG is with the cruise control set at 65 MPH. At a legal 75 MPH. it drops to about 19.1 MPG.
I used to go to the range two or three times a week, but now it's been more like twice a month. Those 50 mile round trips to the range can add up when you have to fill up the tank.
Paul B.

[DON WALKUP]

congress ain't gonna do anything about the high price of gasoline/diesel...they reap too much revenue from it. both for the federal gov't and to amass personal fortunes. same goes for state legislators and legislatures.

insofar as trading into a vehicle that gets better milage...well... my jeep rubicon gets 23 MPG and my toyota tacoma gets the same. i cannot afford to trade ANYTHING right now...i'm retired and live on a fixed income. we recently towed our trailer from here in kaliphornistan to ohio and got averages ranging from nine to fourteen MPG from our toyota.

diesel is now $4.26 per gallon here...unleaded regular is $3.68 per gallon.

the oil companies and all associated with them will bring this country to dead standstill if we are not permitted to drill and use our own sources.

another problem is it takes so many years to get things like an oil refinery/power plant up and running. by the time congress gets offa its collective arse (if they ever do!)...fuel will probably be five or more dollars per gallon.

congress could have headed this off years ago but refused to do so! d*&^%$ near every one of them should be replaced!

[Valigator]

Gas prices will do some huge damage in the next years from within. Did any of you watch the Ethanol issue on various programs? Corn is in most every thing we use in one form or another. Before the seed goes in the ground the price doubles now. Soon we will see desperation in lower income families. Soon every household will start to see their gas tanks drained in the middle of the night. Then we will see hunger in families who cant afford hamburger....then we will see hi-jacking and women become victims more and more because men see them as targets for their purses and valuables. Home envasions will become more common place. Thefts of property and persons will become common place and more and more deadly. It will get worse before it gets better. My suggestion is enhance your personal security in whatever means you can afford....only the prepared will survive......

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Hey lilred...I like your idea too....in fact they make their own gas....who can say they drive something that does that.