Record oil profits

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...

It would not make good economic sense for any business to overproduce. Not only would it reduce the price of the product, it would also increase production expenses.

Nobody gets angry at Ford and Samsung for producing products 'at levels just high enough to meet demand'. So why should we get angry at Shell and Exxon?

 

[Samilcar]

I'd like to know of any industry or individual business that deliberately overproduces for the purpose of suppressing their own profits.

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe
Originally Posted By: grampi
Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...

It would not make good economic sense for any business to overproduce. Not only would it reduce the price of the product, it would also increase production expenses.

Nobody gets angry at Ford and Samsung for producing products 'at levels just high enough to meet demand'. So why should we get angry at Shell and Exxon?


Because I can chose to buy something other than a Ford or Samsung product if they get too high priced. I do not have that choice with oil products.

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
Originally Posted By: LTVibe
Originally Posted By: grampi
Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...

It would not make good economic sense for any business to overproduce. Not only would it reduce the price of the product, it would also increase production expenses.

Nobody gets angry at Ford and Samsung for producing products 'at levels just high enough to meet demand'. So why should we get angry at Shell and Exxon?


Because I can chose to buy something other than a Ford or Samsung product if they get too high priced. I do not have that choice with oil products.

Even though Ford and Samsung price their products to be competitive with others who make the same products, generally you won't see a vast difference in the prices for comparable products. You may get a Samsung flat screen cheaper than Sony, but it won't be way cheaper than the Sony.

Still, don't expect any industry to deliberately overproduce just so consumers can enjoy big discounts.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
Originally Posted By: LTVibe
Originally Posted By: grampi
Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...

It would not make good economic sense for any business to overproduce. Not only would it reduce the price of the product, it would also increase production expenses.

Nobody gets angry at Ford and Samsung for producing products 'at levels just high enough to meet demand'. So why should we get angry at Shell and Exxon?


Because I can chose to buy something other than a Ford or Samsung product if they get too high priced. I do not have that choice with oil products.


Exactly...the oil companies are selling their products to a captive audience that must have their products...sounds like the game is pretty much rigged in favor of the oil companies to me...

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Exactly...the oil companies are selling their products to a captive audience that must have their products...sounds like the game is pretty much rigged in favor of the oil companies to me...

Right.

And don't forget: those oil producing nations (OPEC) 'are selling their products to a captive audience' (the oil companies) 'that must have their products'.

It's all rigged, I tell you!

Why can't those greedy OPEC countries flood the market with so much oil that those greedy speculators will be forced to lower the price, forcing the greedy oil companies to pass the savings on to all us gas-greedy Americans who think we have a constitutional right to cheap gas now and forever!

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: LTVibe
Originally Posted By: grampi
Exactly...the oil companies are selling their products to a captive audience that must have their products...sounds like the game is pretty much rigged in favor of the oil companies to me...

Right.

And don't forget: those oil producing nations (OPEC) 'are selling their products to a captive audience' (the oil companies) 'that must have their products'.

It's all rigged, I tell you!

Why can't those greedy OPEC countries flood the market with so much oil that those greedy speculators will be forced to lower the price, forcing the greedy oil companies to pass the savings on to all us gas-greedy Americans who think we have a constitutional right to cheap gas now and forever!

Nah, why should they do ANYTHING to keep prices reasonable. Afterall, all the world's consumers have an endless supply of money, right?

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: ZZman

Because I can chose to buy something other than a Ford or Samsung product if they get too high priced. I do not have that choice with oil products.


False analogy. You can buy different brands of a TV but you still have to buy the same electrons to power them. Why aren't you complaining about the monopoly that the electrical power providers have on your life?

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: grampi

That's not true. Most oil fields haven't even been tapped yet, and refineries aren't even close to running at full capacity. Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...


Do you intentionally work longer hours for lower pay?

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: grampi

That's not true. Most oil fields haven't even been tapped yet, and refineries aren't even close to running at full capacity. Supplies are purposely kept at levels just high enough to meet demand to keep prices at their peak...


Do you intentionally work longer hours for lower pay?


No, but I can't purposely drag my feet to earn more either...

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: grampi

No, but I can't purposely drag my feet to earn more either...

Is there a gas shortage?

 

[fsskier]

Originally Posted By: grampi

That's not true. Most oil fields haven't even been tapped yet, and refineries aren't even close to running at full capacity.



Any Idea where those oil fields are?? Most I can think of have been tapped, a few like the western oil shales have been tapped for many years... with some success in North Dakota, very little success in Colorado.

Sadly, estimates of the oil in the Alaskan wildlife refuge have been reduced by a factor of 10, now that advanced seismic techniques are available. The deepwater drilling permits/regulations will now require that casings are sealed with approved methods (BP was trying to shortcut this step) and blowout preventers need to actually be tested and work.

Not remarkable idea's and permits are again being given.

29 shallow water permits, 11 deep water permits new, so far.

 

[Trvlr500]

SOME success in North Dakota?! I suggest you head up there and take a look see for yourself. Oil and natural gas a booming there just as in MT, WY and CO. They are just now starting to tap the Balken.

As for the "oil companies" they may be evil but that's only because of the trillionaires that own them as well as many other companies. Microsoft's profit margin is around 30%. The last time I checked that is.

The oil supply is controlled since oil is now one of the world's currencies while the dollar has collapsed. The collapse of the dollar is the biggest reason we are seeing higher oil, gold and silver prices.

Anyone can invest in oil so instead of repeating the propaganda spewed by the media to draw attention away from the REAL reason oil prices rise and fall it might be a good idea to become a speculator and invest in energy right now. You can buy gas with your profits. Many normal everyday people have been doing that for decades. They aren't "speculators". They are just investors.

The federal government and the states make FAR higher profits off of gasoline and diesel than any oil company does just as they do with almost every other product manufactured. The big banks show profits twice that of any oil company. Candy and electronics have some of the highest mark-ups.

I have personally had a run in with Halliburton on the job and I found out why they have such a horrible reputation around the globe. They DO suck. It's a fascist company.

Last but not least? You can't believe what many say concerning the actual oil resources we have. No one really knows exactly how much we have. All we do know it's that there is plenty for decades to come.

Many finds that have been pumped dry refill later on down the road. The problem we have here is that every country on the planet is over here taking our natural resources because our government decided to join this hokey "global" game while we aren't allowed to use our resources ourselves.

America is just the modern day "whipping boy" to the "global" community.

Our own government has sold us out to the rest of the world. They are giving/selling our country right out from underneath us which is why our economy is stagnating/collapsing while economies around the world are growing.

 

[Trvlr500]

Because I can chose to buy something other than a Ford or Samsung product if they get too high priced. I do not have that choice with oil products.

Actually, ZZman you/we do. If we all only bought our gas from companies such as Maverick, Flying-J and Sinclair to name a few that DON'T import oil the others that do would eventually have to lower their prices. I have started doing that myself. I like Chevron but stopped buying it after 12 years and only buy from American companies that source their oil from the U.S. Depending on where you live there are usually companies around that only use domestic oil.

While we have pretty much been forced over the last 30 years to be dependent on foriegn oil it isn't necessary. We have plenty of our own. It would be nice if our government would do it's job and kick all the foriegn companies out of here that are drilling/mining for OUR natural resources and KEEP OUR oil here instead of selling it on the global market.

We have been forced into a dependency on foriegn oil that just isn't necessary.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
It would be nice if our government would do it's job and kick all the foriegn companies out of here that are drilling/mining for OUR natural resources and KEEP OUR oil here instead of selling it on the global market.


Sweet, and while you're at it, can Australia have Vegemite, Four and Twenty, Arnotts, ugg boots, Adelaide to Darwin Railway, Billy Tea, Golden Circle, etc. etc. and our northwest shelf natural gas fields back ???

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
The oil supply is controlled since oil is now one of the world's currencies while the dollar has collapsed. The collapse of the dollar is the biggest reason we are seeing higher oil, gold and silver prices.


I find it just amazing how despite the collapsed dollar, I still can gas up my car for comparatively little money!

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: grampi

No, but I can't purposely drag my feet to earn more either...

Is there a gas shortage?


No, but supply is purposely kept tight to keep prices as high as possible...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Volvo_ST1
Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
The oil supply is controlled since oil is now one of the world's currencies while the dollar has collapsed. The collapse of the dollar is the biggest reason we are seeing higher oil, gold and silver prices.


I find it just amazing how despite the collapsed dollar, I still can gas up my car for comparatively little money!

We are paying just as much for GAS as any country. The difference in prices from country to country is the amount of taxes...

 

[LTVibe]

Originally Posted By: grampi
No, but supply is purposely kept tight to keep prices as high as possible...

If that is true, then why are all the media outlets and politicians ignoring it? Many of these guys would love to blame 'Big Oil' for the run-up in gas prices, but haven't done so.

The supplies are no tighter now than they were before the upheaval in the Mideast, when prices were well below $3/gallon.

 

[demarpaint]

Speculators have driven these prices up, there is plenty of oil at the moment. They are "anticipating" a "possible" cut in distribution over something that "might" happen in the Mid East. They needed an excuse to drive prices up, they found it.