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Politics & ReligionWell Since every damn forum has one. Might as well leave it out there. This place is loosely moderated and should not be entered if you're weak of heart.
to expand upon fire's point, oil companies use their crude in manifold ways. From personal care products, plastics and food preservatives to lubricants and gasoline. Not only that but the market for these products is growing exponentially as India and China increase development and quality of living.
Ultimately the worldwide demand per capita for products containing or partially derived from crude oil and it's byproducts is constantly increasing as is the size of the population that is making said demands.
It only makes sense that when overall demand for a product goes up and the supply doesn't the cost will. This country hasn't built a new oil refinery in my lifetime, we are highly restrictive about where we will let oil companies drill for oil, if and when we let them drill at all, it's no wonder that prices are going up. As to profits posted by big oil Exxon makes about one nickel for every gallon of gas sold. Not in my opinion an extravagent amount by any means. There are many things we could do to bring down the cost of oil besides asking exxon to drop their profit margin. If they cut all profit out, a 3 dollar gallon of gas would still cost $2.95. Wow
If you want to make a significant impact on the immediate price of gas we need to take the problem to the politicians. Politicians love to immediately decry the heinous behaviour of the oil companies when prices go up, but primarily they do this to appeal to the emotions of the voter and remove all implied liability from themselves.
Right now there are several different blends of gas for each grade level and season. When you look at all the different blend requirements for each season and region it becomes quickly very confusing, not primarily due to it's bizantine nature so much as it's counterintuitiveness. If one blend of gas works fine in NJ, why not be able to sell it in VA. If it works good in Dec. why not be able to sell it in April? Aside from the obvious increase in operational costs at the refining level, there is a hidden more severe effect at the supply level. If southeastern VA gas stations are facing fuel shortages due to heavy tourism and there is a fuel surplus in NC, suppliers in NC should be able to take their fuel to VA and sell it where it is needed. Nope. Not a VA approved blend, so the fuel in NC will continue to bear low rates of return due to low demand while gas 30 minutes away will see huge increases in price due to a government imposed shortage. If you want a quick way to bring down prices, we could start by removing regional blend differences. Then we could allow some more refineries to be produced, while also allowing for more drilling here at home. To top off those we could also put pressure on Mexico to allow foreign/private investment in their oil. Right now Mexico is one of the top oil suppliers to the US and the industry over there is completely Gov. controlled, meaning very inefficient. Take note that all of the solutions pointed out above have nothing to do with BIG OIL and everything to do with DC.
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"I cannot undertake to lay my finger
on that article of the Constitution
which granted a right to Congress of expending,
on the objects of benevolence,
the money of their constituents."
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Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fire735
Wasn't there a similar thread started last quarter? My bet is that there will be another thread started next quarter too. Wake the f'ck up people. The libs will now have their protests in front of gas stations for the next 2 - 3 weeks, or until the next big movement comes down the pipe. You want cheaper gas? Tell the f'cking politicians to remove the tax from the fuel. You'd probably be surprised to find that it would be around 50 cents cheaper.
The oil companies have to buy the oil to refine it into gas, and diesel. The price at which they buy the oil, is determined in the middle east. You can thank the libs for that as well. By stopping drilling and restricting refineries, the libs have greatly contributed to the "crisis" we are having today. Also don't forget that the "Big Oil" companies have been around for decades and have diversified their business. So the profit numbers you are seeing are not just from gas. I still say, liberals are retarded.
I don't see where you get this shit from. Every reply you ever post in this board is "blame the liberals." Abortion, terrorism, high gas prices, the moral decline of America - it's all the liberals' fault. Nevermind they haven't been in power for over 5 years. I'm not a member of either party, but let me point out that Clinton got a blowjob from an intern, and Bush... well, I'm just going to say he's fucked a lot more of us than Clinton ever did.
I think you've been brainwashed. Do you have your own opinions, or are you just going to continue regurgitating Fox's primetime discussion? You'd certainly improve your credibility around here if you'd just stop and think before typing.
Back to gas prices and obscene profits. $10 billion is a lot of money, but considering the amount they put into R&D and the costs associated with refining and transporting, I don't think it's completely out of the question. What I want to know is how much they spend on researching an alternative to fossil fuels.
People bitch and moan about gas prices all day long, but a lot of the time it's the people that drive Explorers or Tahoes, knowing full well that their investment wasn't going to be the cheapest means of conveyance in the first fucking place. They don't have the right to bitch and complain. If you're dumb enough to think you need a 5 liter engine with 250 HP just to drive the kids to soccer practice or to get to work on time to sit at your desk in a dress shirt and tie, you're dellusional and should be pummeled with something blunt. Buy a fucking Honda. However, the single parent that drives an efficient car and could barely afford gas in the first place is really suffering, and nobody seems to care about that.
The oil companies dont make lots of margin, but they make lots of volume. I dont care if you picked up pennies for a living..........10billion in one quarter is a fuck load.........and to call it a record profit for any company shows you something.
Oil is drilled, using huge crews of people to build the platforms/rigs, then huge crews of people to operate and maintain the rig.
The oil is transported thousands of miles using multimillion dollar pipelines and shipping facilities.
The oil is transported again using gargantuan multimillion dollar tankers, burning thousands of gallons of fuel that they're trying to produce.
The oil is delivered to a multibillion dollar refinery. The oil is made into 20+ types of gasoline due to governmental regulations.
The gasoline is delivered via expensive trucks (using thousands more gallons of it to get it there) into expensive stations.
You pump it out and it's $2.99 a gallon.
That's a fucking steal.
Let's think of something else sold by the gallon... or rather, a 20 oz bottle.
Water is pumped out of a spring and ran through a multi-thousand dollar filter. It's put into 4 cent plastic bottles. Trucks bring it to Wal-Mart and sell it for $6 per gallon.
My attitude on this is based on the fact that I am a free market loving, capitalistic, asshole Libertarian.
If you want prices to go down, wage a campaign against SUVs taking useless trips to Wal-mart.
I don't see where you get this shit from. Every reply you ever post in this board is "blame the liberals." Abortion, terrorism, high gas prices, the moral decline of America - it's all the liberals' fault. Nevermind they haven't been in power for over 5 years. I'm not a member of either party, but let me point out that Clinton got a blowjob from an intern, and Bush... well, I'm just going to say he's fucked a lot more of us than Clinton ever did.
Beyond that, it's not like the oil companies haven't been expanding the existing refineries' capacity.
It would be better for the US if we had more refineries, though - there's no doubt about that. If we had some rigs off the coast of Florida, and then a nice big refinery somewhere inside those nasty ass orange groves...
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