Gas prices going up ...again.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by cowracer

gas is still comparatively cheap. My olds goes 24 miles per gallon of gas. You couldn't get me to walk 24 miles for $3.79. Even at $10 a gallon, its cheap if you look at it the right way.

Tim

x2

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

If gas prices go up, how is he saving on his lawn mower fuel bill? Does he have a diesel lawn mower?

,)

[f5moab]

Originally Posted by Canonman

How's this make you feel:
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson received $24.7 million total compensation.
Exxon has received $600 million annual tax breaks. In 2011, Exxon paid just 13 percent in taxes. You and I average around 25%The company paid no taxes to the U.S. federal government in 2009, despite 45.2 billion record profits. It paid $15 billion in taxes, but none in federal income tax.
In fourth quarter 2012, Exxon bought back $5.3 billion of its stock, which enriches the largest shareholders and executives of the company. The buyback cost was taken as an expense against profits.
Exxon’s federal campaign contributions totaled $2.77 million for the 2012 cycle, sending 89 percent to Republicans.
The company spent $12.97 million lobbying in 2012 to protect low tax rates and block pollution controls and safeguards for public health.

In October, Chevron made the single-largest corporate donation in history. Chevron dropped $2.5 million with the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC to elect House Republicans.
The bulk of Chevron’s federal contributions came from the super PAC donation, for a total of $3.87 million for the 2012 cycle. 85 percent went to Republicans.
Chevron spent $9.55 million lobbying Congress in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Chevron paid 19 percent U.S. taxes last year (half of the top corporate tax rate of 35 percent), and received an estimated $700 million in annual tax breaks

Now that we know how the greedy ba$t@rd$ get away with it what are we going to do about it??
Every time some arab has a wet fart the Oil Elites use it as an excuse to raise prices.
And we still believe that if we become oil self sufficient we'll somehow save money and keep prices low. Anybody seen that happen yet?? And we're not likely to either since the price is based on the world market price not what it costs to grow your own.
Plus all the political clout an industry earning over $100 BILLION a year in profits (that's right, not gross revenue, but pure profits) has with our illustrious leaders; well you get the point. There is no true free market competition in this industry.

My sincere apologizes for the soap box rant, but this fuel price thing just gets my goat.

Makes me feel that capitalism does work better than socialism.
Want to make those oil shieks fart more, let this country become TOTALLY independent of all imported oil as soon as possible. And it can be done, but it won't be done.
Just wait, a majority of states will be raising their fuel taxes in the next two years.
So that's my rant.

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by f5moab

Makes me feel that capitalism does work better than socialism.

Want to make those oil shieks fart more, let this country become TOTALLY independent of all imported oil as soon as possible. And it can be done, but it won't be done.

Just wait, a majority of states will be raising their fuel taxes in the next two years.

So that's my rant.

Becoming independent is going to do squat. Take a look at us, Canada produces more than it consumes (http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=ca) and we're still paying at least $1.00 a gallon more than stateside. Actual per barrel prices has very little to do with price. It all comes down to what the stores think people are willing to pay.

[Hutch333id]

Hmmmm, I live in Alberta and we're swimming in the stuff. We should be paying less per liter than they are in places like Dubia and Venezuela yet right now gas in Calgary is C$1.22.9 per liter. Thats roughly U$4.67 a gallon before taking into consideration the exchange rate. Diesel is presently C$1.38.9 per liter (U$5.27 per gallon).
The biggest problem we have is the lack of refining capacity. Oh and the taxes but I'm not going down that path.

[F and E Damp]

I filled up at our local Safeway 2 weeks ago at $3.17. Today it was $3.57. Even our nearby tribal Chevron was $3.55.

Compared to the UK, where it's headed above £1.50 a liter (about $9 a gallon), we aren't as bad off as some folks in the "civilized world". You can understand why the Brits consider the Honda Civic to be a "large family car". The pre-tax price in the UK is actually less than ours, but they put an outrageous tax on fuel, then let commercial operators (truckers, bus lines, airlines etc) get the tax back. The government takes the best part of a year to dish out the refunds, effectively getting a multi-million dollar loan from the transportation industry.

Most of the European nations have similar taxes. As an ex-pat Brit, I don't consider myself to be a European. There was a Daily Telegraph headliner back in the early 1950's that read "Fog in Channel - Continent Isolated". Sums up my attitude to the European nations pretty well and it's why we've lived in the US since 1968.

[glen1971]

Gas here is at $1.209 a litre or $4.59 a gallon..
Diesel is at around $1.40 a litre or $5.32 a gallon..

Can't wait to see what they peak at for camping season...

[Hutch333id]

Ex-pat Brit myself. Moved over to the "colonies" (joking!!) 11 years ago. I know just what you mean about the taxes on petrol. Then there's VAT, Road Fund Licence, etc.

[Hutch333id]

Originally Posted by glen1971

Gas here is at $1.209 a litre or $4.59 a gallon..
Diesel is at around $1.40 a litre or $5.32 a gallon..

Can't wait to see what they peak at for camping season...

Read an article on gas and diesel futures yesterday that indicate they might be heading down for the summer season but I don't quite see it yet. Keeping my fingers crossed 'cos I have some camping plans for the summer south of the 49th.

[f5moab]

I live in Moab UT, I leave town to get lower gas prices. Not sure it has ever dropped below $3.39 all winter. And now with the tourist season just beginning...it is going up about $.10 per week and it is not due to a gas shortage or a refinery change over, or any natural disasters; it is due to the local owned service stations raping the tourists and the locals.

But won't complain. My H3 gets about 14 MPG, my Silverado about 20. However, when towing, the H3 drops to 8 and the Silverado drops to around 14. So gas is a price of going on vacations.

[Campin Cajun]

I see this type of thread come up every spring. Not usually on an RV Forum though. I don't believe any of us are buying vehicles because of fuel mileage. So we are part of the reason fuel prices go up this time of year.

Oil Companies do not set oil prices, so don't blame them.

Look into how much percentage of price per gallon is local and federal taxes.

Gas prices are relatively cheap compared to things like bottled water, milk and ice cream. Especially when you factor in what it cost to process oil into gasoline compared to a cow giving milk or pouring spring water into a plastic bottle.

Don't hate the oil companies.

[PhoneDude 8289]

Any excuse to gouge the public

[jbrostek]

Go look at the US exports of refined fuels for the past 12 months, prices are high because speculators and investors know they can make more money by selling the fuel refined past capacity to other countries that can not keep up. Since 2009 exports of refined fuel are up in the 200% area.

[dustman_stx]

The people making the most money from the oil never touch it- that's why fuel is so high. If only the people producing, refining, transporting and retailing the fuel were making money from it, you'd see MUCH lower prices, IMHO.

[Canonman]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

The people making the most money from the oil never touch it- that's why fuel is so high. If only the people producing, refining, transporting and retailing the fuel were making money from it, you'd see MUCH lower prices, IMHO.

X2 Dustman: Speculators buy and sell fuel as a commodity multiple times before it even gets to the refinery. Why?? Because they can since deregulation made it possible.
By betting on the price outcome with only a single futures contract, a speculator has little or no effect on a market. It's simply a bet. But a speculator with the capital to purchase a sizeable number of futures derivatives at one price can actually sway the market. As energy researcher F. William Engdahl put it, "[s]peculators trade on rumor, not fact" [source: Engdahl]. A speculator purchasing vast futures at higher than the current market price can cause oil producers to horde their commodity in the hopes they'll be able to sell it later on at the future price. This drives prices up in reality -- both future and present prices -- due to the decreased amount of oil currently available on the market.
Investment firms that can influence the oil futures market stand to make a lot; oil companies that both produce the commodity and drive prices up of their product up through oil futures derivatives stand to make even more. Investigations into the unregulated oil futures exchanges turned up major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. But it also revealed energy producers like Vitol, a Swiss company that owned 11 percent of the oil futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange alone [source: Washington Post].
As a result of speculation among these and other major players, an estimated 60 percent of the price of oil per barrel was added; a $100 barrel of oil, in reality, should cost $40 [source: Engdahl]. And despite having an agency created to prevent just such speculative price inflation, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), by the time oil prices skyrocketed, the government had made a paper tiger out of the CFTC.
A report issued in September 2008 to the Senate, pointed to correlations between the influx of money in oil futures markets and the rising cost of oil. The price of oil doubled, tripled and eventually quadrupled in step with the increase from $13 billion to $260 billion in the futures market from 2003 to 2008 [source: U.S. Senate]. In response to calls for better regulation of oil futures, Congress introduced the Consumer-First Energy Act in May 2008. The bill would have extended CFTC oversight to foreign markets, but the act died on the Senate floor the following June. Once again the oil company lobbyists earned their millions and our politicians caved to the all mighty dollar. Ultimately we all paid and are still paying for it.
It's no longer capitalism. This is market manipulation by the corporate elites at the expense of the consumer.

[BC Boy]

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

I see this type of thread come up every spring. Not usually on an RV Forum though. I don't believe any of us are buying vehicles because of fuel mileage. So we are part of the reason fuel prices go up this time of year.

Oil Companies do not set oil prices, so don't blame them.

Look into how much percentage of price per gallon is local and federal taxes.

Gas prices are relatively cheap compared to things like bottled water, milk and ice cream. Especially when you factor in what it cost to process oil into gasoline compared to a cow giving milk or pouring spring water into a plastic bottle.

Don't hate the oil companies.

Have to agree with you there :thumbup: The last time I was at a gas station that actually had a pie chart breaking costs down the taxes of federal and provincial (including our carbon tax) was between 35% and 40%

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[hihocarp]

An easy way to convert the US price per gallon to price per liter is to multiply the ppg by .264= price per litre. For example 3.99 a gallon would equal approx 1.05 a litre. To get the true Canadian price per litre you'd just have to multiply your answer by the exchange rate

[trikebubble]

Oil companies are in business for one reason and one reason only....to create profits for their shareholders. They have a captive market and simply do their best to exploit it.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by trikebubble

Oil companies are in business for one reason and one reason only....to create profits for their shareholders. They have a captive market and simply do their best to exploit it.

No different than any other company or individuals working. Bottom line is it is all about companies and individuals making money the best way they know how to do it.

[Canonman]

Originally Posted by trikebubble

Oil companies are in business for one reason and one reason only....to create profits for their shareholders. They have a captive market and simply do their best to exploit it.

Exploit being the key word here. I don't think anyone has any issue with a business making a fair and reasonable profit for their efforts and investments.
However, when you take advantage of the fact that we are talking about an indispensable commodity and 300% record profit increases then we're looking at exploitation. Much of the huge profit increases over the past three to four years are no more than windfall due to world oil market economy manipulation by the financial, production and political elites. Just like the "Robber Barons" of the past these entities have far to much influence over the commodity price and the consumer has far to little influence over whether to purchase the commodity at that price or not.
In this forum, we complain about the cost of fuel for our RV's. For many in this world this is a matter of not being able to heat their homes through the winter or being able to afford transportation to work or the fact that business have closed due to rising costs of fuel and transportation.
Reasonable profits; No Problem
Exploitive, excessive price gouging; NO Way!