What's going on with gas prices?

[grampi]

Originally Posted by Al
I dunno grampi, as long as you are gonna be that geezer with the sports car, go with the Civic type R. 50% better gas mileage, almost 50% cheaper, just as quick. Probably more reliable.

If I were into performance I would take 2 micro sceonds to decide on the Type R. As it is, my lowly Forester Turbo suits me just fine. I can embarass any studly pickup on the road.


Sorry, but a Civic is not a legendary American sports car. There are plenty of cars today that do things better than a 20 year old Corvette, but none of them have the charisma...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Grampi - come and take if for a spin. Original L36 427 4 speed.
Gets great mileage as compared to the '70 LS6 coupe I had.



I would take you up on the offer if I lived closer...nice ride!

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by grampi
Point is, none of my posts were personal...too bad you can't extend the same courtesy...


My point exactly. My post is nothing personal either but somehow you make it sound like everyone is nuts and crazy because they don't agree with you.

Go back to my original statement, I think I should have said it better. Maybe something like, in the grand scheme of things we all feel different about the market and prices, but just because it is expensive and someone complain, I don't have to agree with you or be labeled unusual (whether because others don't care about price as elitist or brained washed or being politically liberal). Maybe, just maybe, we all shouldn't care too much about how each other thinks, because we will always be disagreeing with each other.


Sorry, but when someone says "I don't care about you", that's personal and doesn't belong in a discussion like this...

 

[Al]

Originally Posted by grampi

I don't know what else to tell you. If you don't believe that the oil industry being a cartel doesn't give them the ability to control their own prices, then it sounds like you are the one who needs to get educated, because it does.

OK..I am game. Tell me exactly how prices are determined at the pump.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by Al
Originally Posted by grampi

I don't recall saying crude oil products were not a commodity, I said they operate in a cartel market, which they do. Maybe you should look that word up...


You said:
Quote
Oil trading operates in a cartel market, which is not the same as a true open, free market, which is why we see the huge price swings all the time...

Yes OPEC is a Cartel..so what? Itsmembersproduce 40% of the world's oil..so what? Everythingon tyhe planet is produced to a specifiedquantity to get themaximum return. The daysof OPEC driving prices ended decades ago.

And otherwise you are incorrect (still) when you stated "which is not the same as a true open, free market, which is why we see the huge price swings all the time..." again you refuse to address the facts or educate yourself. Idon't know which it is. I take pride at the age of 73 in trying to get facts and understand them as clearly as I can. You should perhaps consider that. I think it is good for your brain.


I don't know what else to tell you. If you don't believe that the oil industry being a cartel doesn't give them the ability to control their own prices, then it sounds like you are the one who needs to get educated, because it does.


A cartel that controls only a minority of the world's output isn't going to be a very effective cartel.
Even when OPEC members collectively controlled a majority of the world's production. rampant cheating on agreed output quotas typically made the group ineffective in controlling prices. Today, the member states all badly need the revenues from production and controlling output isn't a part of any real-world plan, despite what these member states may agree to.
Finally, there are vast newly exploited reserves in North America and fifty or so bucks is the magic number that makes them profitable, so the outlook for OPEC to sustain world prices much above that is grim.
In most cases, the cause of price increases in refined product is inadequate refinery capacity. Could there be and is there tacit collusion in the refinery business?
Most likely there is. This could be resolved by changing laws to enable the construction of new refinery capacity at some feasible cost. As things are now, between NIMBYs and environmental permitting regulations, new capacity isn't getting built.

 

[javacontour]

I missed the part where someone said they don't care about you.

Don't you care about all the free market people? You come across as if people don't agree with you, they don't care about you. If that's your logic, then by that very same logic, you don't care about those with whom you disagree.

I think people are trying to say it really doesn't make a difference to them what you think. It's not going to change how they live.

If you feel, believe, think, or whatever so strongly about how refined oil products should be priced and sold, open a gas station, a refinery, whatever it takes to produce products and sell them in accordance with your pricing beliefs.

Nothing says "I care" more than actually putting your skin in the game and producing something.

What someone says on an internet discussion board is pretty much the same level of care that we see exhibited by politicians. Lots of talk, not much real care.

Compassion and caring are measured not by what you say, but by what you do.

Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Originally Posted by grampi
Point is, none of my posts were personal...too bad you can't extend the same courtesy...


My point exactly. My post is nothing personal either but somehow you make it sound like everyone is nuts and crazy because they don't agree with you.

Go back to my original statement, I think I should have said it better. Maybe something like, in the grand scheme of things we all feel different about the market and prices, but just because it is expensive and someone complain, I don't have to agree with you or be labeled unusual (whether because others don't care about price as elitist or brained washed or being politically liberal). Maybe, just maybe, we all shouldn't care too much about how each other thinks, because we will always be disagreeing with each other.


Sorry, but when someone says "I don't care about you", that's personal and doesn't belong in a discussion like this...

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by grampi


I don't know what else to tell you. If you don't believe that the oil industry being a cartel doesn't give them the ability to control their own prices, then it sounds like you are the one who needs to get educated, because it does.



Do you know what a cartel is? Because it's not the little players you buy gasoline from in this country. You can own them and if you want you can explore, drill, refine, and sell petro products yourself. If you don't want to take that risk you can buy fuel wholesale and resell it. You won't make a dime on the latter. You can join them if you wish no one will stop you.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I paid $3.79 for mid-grade. $50 to fill my sister's TSX and it had about 1/4 tank.
I wonder what's going on with gas prices?
Sheesh.

 

[PandaBear]

To be honest, the price in the US is actually WAY LOWER than the rest of the world. Yes, there are developed nations and regions where they have "organizations" that standardize on the prices of petroleum products, and prices are stable, but of course, they are way higher than the volatile prices we see in the US.

So, which one do you prefer, a stable price where it is higher than the "average" volatile market price, or a volatile day to day station to station price that you would be asking "what's going on"?

Remember, you cannot realistically expect to only get the low price and stability, market economy doesn't work that way. What you are asking for is a cartel controlling the price, and not putting a priority on profit (but on your discount instead). That is not how market economy works (average low but volatile), nor how a cartel works (high price but stable).

The only way to a low and stable price is political subsidies, usually dictatorship trying to throw freebies at people so they can be suppressed in other aspect of lives.

 

[4WD]

Would be a formidable undertaking - but eventually the USA could have 91 octane and LS diesel only ... and the engines get built and tuned around that ...
Probably bump the price in the early stages and then level out as things get balanced, amortized, and then sorted on the process side ...
Getting a bit better MPG would help make it all work ...

 

[Dallas69]

So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?


Whatever the explanation is, big oil will come out smelling like roses with all of the cheerleaders they have in this site...

 

[Win]

Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?


Thought I did. Replacement cost of inventory. If you want to sell something for less than it will cost you to replace it, have at it.

 

[stockrex]

Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?


Yes,
it is called "kicking a citizen in the nutz while he is down"

 

[javacontour]

Because people will pay it.

One station cannot set the price. So if one station moves their price by 15 to 25 cents, depending on the direction, motorists will or will not choose them. If they drop it by much more than others around them, they'll get most of the business until other stations also drop their prices. If they raise it by that amount, unless the other stations do the same, they'll get little to no business.

I suspect most stations are slow to drop their prices because they want to get as much as they can per gallon. Not to mention, as others have already pointed out, they have to cover the costs of what is in their tanks already. No harm in that as we all do the same when we are selling something.

I'm sure there are those who make the market more than others. Seems to be around here Quik Trip seems to set the price and others follow or not. The few exceptions are places like Sam's Club and Costco who are often slower to raise, but also can be slower to drop their prices. On the other hand, we have a few BP stations that seem to think their fuel is gold, and not just the Ultimate, at $0.20-0.30/gallon more than others. But I see few cars there, so similar to the Shell station price thread started yesterday.

Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?

 

[Willclark]

When gas prices go over $3 a gallon, I usually ride my bike to work. 15 miles round trip per day. It may sound like a lot but it's doable. Spend the money on a decent bike from a bike shop though. I find the same people who whine about gas prices, typically, use the most gas.

 

[Willclark]

Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?

Whatever the explanation is, big oil will come out smelling like roses with all of the cheerleaders they have in this site...


Instead of constantly complaining, why not drive less?

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Willclark
Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by Dallas69
So back to my question about why prices jump 15 to 25 cents at a time but only drop a penny or 2 at a time.
Can anyone explain?

Whatever the explanation is, big oil will come out smelling like roses with all of the cheerleaders they have in this site...


Instead of constantly complaining, why not drive less?




Too much common sense in that answer. Gasoline prices have been going up and down since the dinosaurs died off. Some people do not adapt to change well.

 

[4WD]

Seems like investment guru Buffet came and went on big oil … just likes to haul it.
Folks can buy high MPG cars, take various forms of transportation, get a better source of income, or whatever … Get EV or Hybrid (I work many places where motorcycles are everywhere)
The number one component in gas prices is a global commodity … the number one profit maker at the pump is the tax man … This can be beat on over and over but how many times have all the allegations been investigated ?

Truth is many still like ICE and the freedom of the road … and it's far from free …

 

[Willclark]

Too much common sense in that answer. Gasoline prices have been going up and down since the dinosaurs died off. Some people do not adapt to change well.
[/quote]


I mean oil companies get rich. So what. Do these people expect gas prices to be $1.25 a gallon?!!