Lion's Daily Blurb - Mon., Tues., May 21-22

[Lion]

Gasoline prices are on the rise again in my neck of da woods. On Saturday it was at $2.99. Today when I went for gas, it was up to $3.19 a gallon. I knew I should have filled up over the weekend, but never expected it to jump 20 cents in a couple days. Did someone blow up a few oil wells I'm not aware of? The owner of the gas station in my local town informed me he expects it to jump another 10 cents by next weekend, according to a letter he received from his supplier. I've already cut down on any unnecessary trips, and combining trips when I can. Obviously any joy riding is out for a while. Even filling up the lawn mower is no longer pocket change. Soon it will be cheaper for me to just have my lawn paved over so I can avoid mowing it. I was planning a trip to the ocean in a few weeks for a bit of R&R. Figuring in my gas mileage, it will cost me $334.95 round trip, and that is if I don't do any running around when I get there. Add in meals, hotel, those spur of the moment shopping sprees, and any miscellaneous costs...you get the picture. Oh well, I'm gonna go anyhoot, but I may have to sell a few body parts to get there.

[Aprime1]

They've been blaming a slow down in North American refineries lately.

So basically, gas prices are raising because they're shutting down refineries.

And when they don't shut down refineries, there's an accident every now and then in one.

And when there's no accident, they're blaming it on political instability in some country that doesn't even pump out 1% of the world's supply, like Congo.

Oligopolies... :|

[General Al Ramsey]

Wish I could sympathize with you LION, but gas has been running at about $3.25 to $3.50 a gallon out here in So Cal. We have to have our gas especially brewed because of the smog restrictions. So we have been paying over $3.00 a gallon for awhile now.

If I have to make long trips now I have found that it is cheaper to rent a car with good gas mileage than pay for the gas in my gas guzzlers. Plus it saves you the mileage on your ride. They keep saying it is going to hit $4.00 per gallon by summertime out here. :sadwave: Unfortunately it will raise the price of everything in our economy. Especially other necessities like food.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Going to have a 2008 Ford Ranger waiting for me at home come time to leave Korea. Wanted a large truck, couldn't afford the payments, kind of glad I went with a compact now. I'm wondering how the 4.0L V6 will do on gas, I've heard it's no worse than the 3.0 but produces a bit more power. We'll see.

Bought a nice bike here, mostly because enlisted personelle under the rank of Sergeant First Class can't own cars. I'm definitely going to take that thing home with me.

[Lion]

Going to have a 2008 Ford Ranger waiting for me at home come time to leave Korea. Wanted a large truck, couldn't afford the payments, kind of glad I went with a compact now. I'm wondering how the 4.0L V6 will do on gas, I've heard it's no worse than the 3.0 but produces a bit more power. We'll see.

Bought a nice bike here, mostly because enlisted personelle under the rank of Sergeant First Class can't own cars. I'm definitely going to take that thing home with me.

Well, by the time ya get home, gas prices may be hovering near $5 a gallon. That bike will come in handy for short runs.

[starscream007]

Gas here in NY is about $3.20

[NuclearDreams]

If people get use to those prices there will be no reason for the oil industry to lower the cost of gas. If, however, people revolt against the high prices then oil companies will have no choice but to rethink their priorities.

[Lion]

If people get use to those prices there will be no reason for the oil industry to lower the cost of gas. If, however, people revolt against the high prices then oil companies will have no choice but to rethink their priorities.

I don't see a revolt taking place, but I do know high gas prices will hurt our economy. Peeps are gonna put off that vacation, or buying a big ticket item as gas prices continue to rise. Workers wages are not going up to meet the increase. What do they do? They turn to plastic (credit cards) and charge it, thus getting deeper and deeper in debt.

Not to mention that with rising gas prices go everything else. It costs money to transport goods to stores. They raise their prices to meet the increased cost of getting those goods. You get the picture...

[Wrecking Crew]

It is a fact though, that oil companies have a tendency to push prices as high as possible until sales start to fall. Then they drop them slightly and the process starts again. This is a standard ploy adopted by most business to get the most profit for their shareholders.

The best way to combat this, is to boycott one large oil company for a period of one month and they WILL drop their price forcing other companies to drop theirs. Then follow this up with a general boycott of another major oil company. It will not work if you just boycott all of them for a day or so.

The Urban Terrorist :D

[Lion]

It is a fact though, that oil companies have a tendency to push prices as high as possible until sales start to fall. Then they drop them slightly and the process starts again. This is a standard ploy adopted by most business to get the most profit for their shareholders.

The best way to combat this, is to boycott one large oil company for a period of one month and they WILL drop their price forcing other companies to drop theirs. Then follow this up with a general boycott of another major oil company. It will not work if you just boycott all of them for a day or so.

The Urban Terrorist :D

Good points Wreckmeister...the trick would be to get Americans to boycott. It ain't gonna happen. By the way, isn't it past your bedtime? :D

Never mind...forgot your in a different time zone. I need to go back to bed. Darn cats got me awake, and I gotta go to work in two hours.

[M2M]

Good points Wreckmeister...the trick would be to get Americans to boycott. It ain't gonna happen. By the way, isn't it past your bedtime? :D

Never mind...forgot your in a different time zone. I need to go back to bed. Darn cats got me awake, and I gotta go to work in two hours.

when will you guys see that it is actually very cheap in america...

[Lion]

when will you guys see that it is actually very cheap in america...

Cheap? Then why is my wallet running on empty? :\

[CO Valle]

Cheap? Then why is my wallet running on empty? :\

Well the very one time I had the opportunitty to drive here in Europe, it was a rented car, and I had to refill the gas tank before returning it, so I went to a gas station, I had to pay around €6 and the neddle just moved up like 2 milimeters; I told ya man, gas in Europe is way expensive when compared to America.

This euro thing is bleeding me, and as for my next vacations, I'll be staying @ France a few days, I'll have to sell my eyes to pay the bills, but hell, I HAVE to go to the Paris AirShow.

[Demeuser]

Oil prices are high, because of price gouging by the oil companies...plain and simple. Basic economics says that if demand increases and supplies are tight, the price will rise. Supply and demand vary inversely. However, the tight supply is an artificial one created by the oil refineries. In past years, when maintenance was performed on a refinery, they took about 100,000 barrels a day off-line in order to perform the maintenance. Currently, they are taking 800,000 barrels a day off-line. That is one reason why the prices are high. Refineries are running at about 89% of capacity compared with an average of 94-95% for this same time last year. The only thing that will drop prices is a decrease in demand! Boycotts don't work because they are only temporary decrases and not "actual" decreases in demand. In addition, most Americans are not changing their driving habits, so the demand is the same. And to make matters worse, when the oil peeps realize that most Americans will still pay $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon and still use the same amount...they are not going to lower prices even if they could! I predict gas prices will fall towards the end of summer, but will still be around $3.10 per gallon nationwide. Come on America, cut back, car pool, ride a bike...stop being fuelish!

[NuclearDreams]

Nah...I think we should all own 70s era, 300 horse power guzzlers with two cylinders kaput, let us show our support for the oil gods. After all, they're the ones who make it possible for me to load up on junk food and DVDs, beer and mags...they're gas gets me across town to my favorite dealer. Without them me and my homies couldn't drive the boulevard and sniff out the snail trails left by the local street hoes. Lets face it, the oil gods give us our culture, the least we can do in appreciation is buy as much gas as we can get our hands on.


...and for the moron who anonymously neg repped me, the above was sarcasm. :moonie:

[Thumper]

Where I am it is already 3.69$ cost me 73$ when i filled up. I am a delivery driver.

its not about driving more efficient cars, its about the oil company's bull****. they are in conspiracy to make tons of money. its called a corporation.

[spyVspy]

Last I filled up here in No. Cal $3.41 was the cheapest I could find. I expected to see a jump before Memorial day weekend, since that kicks off the driving season. Prices are the highest ever now, even adjusted for inflation. The only thing I will do is try and use less, since Congressional petitions and boycotts won't do anything. Lower demand to lower prices...

[Massacure]

Mexico's Cantrell oil field is drying up. Production in it fell by 8% last year and it is expected to fall similarly again this year. That is bad news when Cantrell is Mexico's largest oil field, and the world's second largest. In 2006, it produced on average a hair shy of two million barrels of oil per day.

On top of that, there are major doubts about how long Ghwar in Saudi Arabia will hold out. It's the world's largest but the Saudi's have been working it hard. Some experts in the oil industry thing it may peak pretty soon too.

[Scoot]

It's about $3.35 a gallon here now. I can just imagine what it will be like when hurricane season starts, and they have to stop drilling.

[spyVspy]

The price of crude isn't the problem, or the wholesale price the refineries get, it's just the retail price that is jumping. Because they can.

[Gaucho8788]

Right now with it at $3.19 where I'm at it will take, from empty, $120 to fill my truck. It's a ford F-150 V8 302. It has 2 18 gallon tanks and runs through both of them in about 2 weeks. I'm seriously thinking about trying to get a car, motorcycle, or diesel. Right now here it is $2.64 for diesel. $120 is just unrealistic for me at this time.