Gas prices in 1 year

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
Originally Posted By: FZ1
Right. It's supply and demand and the price is what it is. Free Market will sort it out.
There is no supply problem. It is price fixing.


So, someone is fixing the price everywhere in the world? Because wholesale fuel prices are pretty much the same everywhere. Can you explain this?

 

[odie]

Supposedly there are tankers off the coast full of oil . Geesh , I wonder why ? It's a little bit of everything .

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: odie
Supposedly there are tankers off the coast full of oil . Geesh , I wonder why ? It's a little bit of everything .


There might be, if it is cheaper to store oil on tankers than on land. Oil has to be stored somewhere.

Perhaps you mean that apparently supplies are abundant? That is true, relatively speaking. Supplies of dollars are even more abundant, however; they are being printed faster than ever before. Have you ever heard of "quantitative easing"? Look it up.

 

[odie]

Specualtion is part of process . Everyone has their theory / theories .

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: odie
Specualtion is part of process . Everyone has their theory / theories .


Then you need to read from different sources. I know there are website where 99% of the contributors believe in a conspiracy by Big Oil. This does not make them right, however.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Originally Posted By: FZ1
Right. It's supply and demand and the price is what it is. Free Market will sort it out.
There is no supply problem. It is price fixing.


So, someone is fixing the price everywhere in the world? Because wholesale fuel prices are pretty much the same everywhere. Can you explain this?


There are only a few markets that set the price of oil, NYME being the premiere one. Here's one view, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166038,00.html

 

[FZ1]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
Originally Posted By: odie
Specualtion is part of process . Everyone has their theory / theories .


Then you need to read from different sources. I know there are website where 99% of the contributors believe in a conspiracy by Big Oil. This does not make them right, however.
So? 66% of Americans believe Oswald was not acting alone,and that's also incorrect. No conspiracy theories for me. I just show up and fill up.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
There are only a few markets that set the price of oil, NYME being the premiere one. Here's one view, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166038,00.html


Never heard of him.

He suggests that margin requirements be raised as the price and volatility of a commodity increase. News alert: that is always done, by each exchange, not by the SEC or CFTC. Each exchange has a vested interest in ensuring that traders can meet their daily margin calls.

 

[lexus114]

all of this fuel price stuff is a bunch of [censored]!!!!!

And to top it off,I only get around 17 mpg`s this time of year!

 

[Thermo1223]

Well if it does get closer to $5.00/gal for premium the fuel economy tune goes on the Forester. Heck I've been toying with the idea now just to see if it makes a difference.

We could have bought a Prius, or what I really wanted a TDI but new was way too much $$$ and used was frustrating to find a decent one. I don't like the interior of a Prius one bit so we may have opted for a Civic Hybrid had that been the case(used of course).

However the leasing deal on the Mazda 3 was better than her Rabbit so we said ok! I'm hopping that by the time her lease is over there will be a river of electric cars and diesels to chose from. Personally right now an electric car might work for her. She only works 1 4 day week a month or 2 on occasion. So any other time it is 3 days all apart and only 22 miles one way.

As it stands a Leaf could do that however recharging with 220v as apposed to 110v would be a must. It would work out great for her around town duties as well since everything is within a 10 mile radius. The range could be a problem is not charged fully which is why I hope by 2014 they can make some strides in that dept. If they do, maybe I'll get one and just keep the Forester as a toy/roadtrip car.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Well if it does get closer to $5.00/gal for premium the fuel economy tune goes on the Forester. Heck I've been toying with the idea now just to see if it makes a difference.

We could have bought a Prius, or what I really wanted a TDI but new was way too much $$$ and used was frustrating to find a decent one.


My sister bought a 2011 Forester and got a surprisingly good deal, just over $23k; it's a very nice car, and very roomy. But a well-appointed Jetta Sportwagon TDI is under $25k, so not that much more; and TDIs have always depreciated very slowly. Here in the Snow Belt, I'm a bit concerned about the rust-resistance of the Suburu -- VWs come with a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
So, someone is fixing the price everywhere in the world? Because wholesale fuel prices are pretty much the same everywhere. Can you explain this?

The price is fixed because suppliers purposely keep supplies tight so supply just barely meets demand. If they would produce more, the price would come down, but that then would cut into their insane profits...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
Originally Posted By: odie
Specualtion is part of process . Everyone has their theory / theories .


Then you need to read from different sources. I know there are website where 99% of the contributors believe in a conspiracy by Big Oil. This does not make them right, however.


Conspiracy, cartel, not much difference...

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: grampi

The price is fixed because suppliers purposely keep supplies tight so supply just barely meets demand. If they would produce more, the price would come down, but that then would cut into their insane profits...


Supplies meet demand. If they supplied more, in the absence of increased demand, where would they put it? Storage tanks are mostly full, and some loaded tankers are sitting at anchor.

If I had the right place, and if I used enough diesel to make it worthwhile, I'd install a 500- or 1000-gallon tank. If you are concerned about prices, you might want to consider something like this for yourself.

Also, what do you consider an insane profit? 4 cents a gallon? 5 cents? 6 cents?

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
Also, what do you consider an insane profit? 4 cents a gallon? 5 cents? 6 cents?

5 cents a gallon? That's hilarious! If you believe that, I've got some swamp land in Florida I'll sell you! Those kind of profits simply wouldn't support the hundreds of millions of dollars in retirement pensions their CEO's get. Oil companies report profits of generally 8-10%, but the numbers just don't add up. I know someone's going to chime in and say those numbers are varified by accountants, but so were Enron's...

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
[My sister bought a 2011 Forester and got a surprisingly good deal, just over $23k; it's a very nice car, and very roomy.

I almost bought new 2008-09 Forester when I got mine, I opted for the older model with a 5 speed & turbo. Speed got the better of me.

I was very apprehensive about the new 2.0 CR engine, I drove it, liked it. Then I started worrying about long term reliability of the DSG. I think my fears got the better of me because we really could have afforded it just the Mazda wasn't a bad deal.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
Also, what do you consider an insane profit? 4¢ a gallon? 5¢? 6¢?

The last time I researched the numbers, in 2008 I think when the oil companies really were making some big profits, Exxon-Mobil netted about 6.5 ¢/gallon before taxes. Like I said, that was a very good year, with excellent refining margins.

I suppose I could go through this exercise again. It's not that hard to do. Each publicly-traded company reports its earnings, as well as average daily production numbers. Profit per gallon is easy to compute. Try it for yourself.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
The last time I researched the numbers, in 2008 I think when the oil companies really were making some big profits, Exxon-Mobil netted about 6.5 cents/gallon before taxes. Like I said, that was a very good year, with excellent refining margins.

I suppose I could go through this exercise again. It's not that hard to do. Each publicly-traded company reports its earnings, as well as average daily production numbers. Profit per gallon is easy to compute. Try it for yourself.

Absolutely true. Oil companies do make big profits, but it's based on massive volumes. There are plenty of respected, admired and even loved companies and industries that make far, far higher profit margins than the oil industry and companies. The "EVIL OIL INCORPORATED" bit is a red herring...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
Absolutely true. Oil companies do make big profits, but it's based on massive volumes. There are plenty of respected, admired and even loved companies and industries that make far, far higher profit margins than the oil industry and companies. The "EVIL OIL INCORPORATED" bit is a red herring...

And how many of those companies are selling a product the world MUST have, and/or are selling them in a market that has no competition?

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: grampi
And how many of those companies are selling a product the world MUST have, and/or are selling them in a market that has no competition?


At a certain point, and in certain markets, oil competes with natural gas and biofuels. And over the long term, it competes against electricity from coal, hydro and nuclear power.