Argument against high gas prices

If you follow this link: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/a103600001m.htm

You will see that the gas deliveries in Mar 2007 are lower than they
were in Mar 1984. This is despite the claims by oil companies that
they have been constantly expanding their refining capacity, and the
reason for the over $3.00 a gallon pricing is due to refining
capacity. Sorry, but I just don't see the demand being much higher
now than it was in the early 80's from this data! How can there be a
refinery shortage if the capacity has been increasing, but deliveries
are flat? Add to that the fact that crude oil is $10 a barrel less
this year than it was last year, and you can figure that the oil
companies are going to report huge profits this year...

I think the truth is that the gasoline futures market is being
manipulated to maximize profits. Why else would the prices of av-gas
rise so much when demand has dropped by nearly 50% since 2000? Why
would auto-gas prices rise rapidly, when demand is flat?

The table does not yet show the auto-gas deliveries for April, May, or
June 2007. That data should be interesting given the sharp rise in
prices that occured in that time period. I wonder if demand has
dropped as a result of prices going up.

Dean

wrote in message
ups.com...
If you follow this link:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/a103600001m.htm

You will see that the gas deliveries in Mar 2007 are lower than they
were in Mar 1984. This is despite the claims by oil companies that
they have been constantly expanding their refining capacity, and the
reason for the over $3.00 a gallon pricing is due to refining
capacity.


If you think about how the various scams work, consider that every year
during the holidays the price goes up because the demand goes up, and the
industry says it has to raise the prices to keep up with the demand.

So they KNOW there's going to be an increase in demand Memorial Day and
Labor Day weekend year after year after year...but there's always a supply
shortage during those weekends so prices rise.

It would be far less detrimental to the American economy if the geniuses
that run the oil companies determined in FEBRUARY that there would be an
upturn in sales on Memorial Day weekend, and had the product ready for the
market in sufficient quantity to match that demand.

Not so much money in that, though. So the oil companies continue to make
record quarterly profits (record in terms of the entire history of human
civilization, quarter after quarter), but somehow they're never prepared to
increase production and supply in time to prevent America from being bent
over at the pump every summer holiday.

Add to that the fact that crude oil is $10 a barrel less this year than it
was last year, and you can figure that the oil
companies are going to report huge profits this year...

Guys who bring this up on or.politics are usually called socialists,
communists, or America-hating lieberals, and the advice they're given is to
invest in XOM. To me, that's tantamount to investing in organized crime.
At some point we're either going to force them to put the national interest
over record oil prices, or pull a Chavez and nationalize it. I'm not being
a big-government socialist when I say that the federal bureaucracy could run
the oil industry at lower user cost. (Not necessarily more efficiently,
but in ways that are less damaging to the US economy, transportation
industries, etc.)


-c

gatt wrote:
Guys who bring this up on or.politics are usually called socialists,
communists, or America-hating lieberals, and the advice they're given is to
invest in XOM. To me, that's tantamount to investing in organized crime.
At some point we're either going to force them to put the national interest
over record oil prices, or pull a Chavez and nationalize it. I'm not being
a big-government socialist when I say that the federal bureaucracy could run
the oil industry at lower user cost. (Not necessarily more efficiently,
but in ways that are less damaging to the US economy, transportation
industries, etc.)


The very best way to lower prices on anything is to open up
the marketplace... encourage entrepeneurs to enter the market.
Provide incentives to modernize/increase efficiency and expand
and modernize production and manufacturing facilities. Lower
the barriers (regulation/red tape) that prevent smaller and
more agressive youg companies to establish themselves.

This philosophy is not popular in today's environment.
The media is not interested in talking honestly about this
subject... only vilifying "big oil"... Hillary talking about
taxing more "big oil" profits... how evil they are and how
they should be stopped/shut down/punished. All of this is
music to the ears of envrironmentalist groups that are really
anti-capitalist groups in disguise. Meanwhile nothing is done.

Since there is no leadership in Washington DC this country
wallows around powerless to foreign oil interests while
oil conmpanies take advantage of the situation (who wouldn't?).
When a country is led by 500 some-odd dumbasses all living
together in on city on the Potomac River what do expect would happen?

"kontiki" wrote in message
...


This philosophy is not popular in today's environment. The media is not
interested in talking honestly about this
subject... only vilifying "big oil"...

I think the media thinks they're talking honestly, sort of the way they talk
about killer bees, bigfoot, Alar, plane crashes, etc.

All of this is music to the ears of envrironmentalist groups that are
really anti-capitalist groups in disguise.

Some are, some aren't. I've met very many well-organized,
non-anti-capitalist environmentalists. Out west it comes with the turf; you
can be one without being the other. I've flown photo missions for
environmentalist groups that weren't anti-capitalist, although there's
certainly no shortage of clueless anarchist tagalongs who parasitically
attach themselves to whatever progress somebody tries to make and then
verbally attack anybody who says they're out of line.

It's weirder than that out here, though, too. A friend of mine used to work
for a spook organization hired by local timber companies to scare or rough
up protestors, or to pretend to be a protestor by going to a trial or
something and causing chaos. As long as they look like punks, the media
reports 'em as enviros or ecoterrorists. He quit doing it because his
conscience got to him, but even then he simply refused to talk about some of
the stuff he says he did and that they still do.

When a country is led by 500 some-odd dumbasses all living together in on
city on the Potomac River what do expect would happen?

LOL! Yeah, I agree!

-c

"kontiki" wrote in message ...

The very best way to lower prices on anything is to open up
the marketplace... encourage entrepeneurs to enter the market.
Provide incentives to modernize/increase efficiency and expand
and modernize production and manufacturing facilities. Lower
the barriers (regulation/red tape) that prevent smaller and
more agressive youg companies to establish themselves.


That will never happen with everyong drinking 'fuel' from the same pipe...

On Jun 5, 3:49 pm, "gatt" wrote:
I'm not being
a big-government socialist when I say that the federal bureaucracy could run
the oil industry at lower user cost. (Not necessarily more efficiently,
but in ways that are less damaging to the US economy, transportation
industries, etc.)

-c

JEEEEEEEPPPPPERS!!!
Don't EVER say that out loud!
You've seen how well the feds have run aviation lately, and then say
that they might run oil companies at a lower cost???
What's in your water? (OK, insert half a smiley here....)
We know how thick the paperwork and regs books are just to fly a
little ol' plane from point A to point B. I can't imaigine how bad
the oil business would be if the job-justifying feds started running
it.
jeez...

On Jun 5, 2:31 pm, wrote:

I think the truth is that the gasoline futures market is being
manipulated to maximize profits. Why else would the prices of av-gas
rise so much when demand has dropped by nearly 50% since 2000? Why
would auto-gas prices rise rapidly, when demand is flat?


I agree with you that high gasoline price maximizes oil company
profit. However as a pilot you can easily hedge on that by buying oil
company stock, or invest in mutual funds that're specialized in the
oil sector. All major oil companies are public companies. I'm quite
certain that I made far more from the oil companies than what I paid
extra for the fuel, and I only have a small part of my 401k in the
energy sector.

In terms of 100LL avgas, there's something else in play here. Due to
the lead content requiring a separate infrastructure to transport and
distribute the fuel, a reduction of 100LL consumption will result in a
bigger price gap between 100LL and autogas, due to the largely fixed
cost of 100LL infrastructure needing to be spread among a smaller
overall sales. If the 100LL consumption dropped to 50% of today's
level (it probably won't be many years away), don't be surprised that
100LL costs more than $2/gallon over the autogas price.

On Jun 5, 10:34 pm, M wrote:
On Jun 5, 2:31 pm, wrote:



I think the truth is that the gasoline futures market is being
manipulated to maximize profits. Why else would the prices of av-gas
rise so much when demand has dropped by nearly 50% since 2000? Why
would auto-gas prices rise rapidly, when demand is flat?

I agree with you that high gasoline price maximizes oil company
profit. However as a pilot you can easily hedge on that by buying oil
company stock, or invest in mutual funds that're specialized in the
oil sector. All major oil companies are public companies. I'm quite
certain that I made far more from the oil companies than what I paid
extra for the fuel, and I only have a small part of my 401k in the
energy sector.

In terms of 100LL avgas, there's something else in play here. Due to
the lead content requiring a separate infrastructure to transport and
distribute the fuel, a reduction of 100LL consumption will result in a
bigger price gap between 100LL and autogas, due to the largely fixed
cost of 100LL infrastructure needing to be spread among a smaller
overall sales. If the 100LL consumption dropped to 50% of today's
level (it probably won't be many years away), don't be surprised that
100LL costs more than $2/gallon over the autogas price.

Really? Got a $100K I can have to invest in the oil companies? I
don't have it myself, so your suggestion does me no good.

Blueskies wrote:
"kontiki" wrote in message ...

The very best way to lower prices on anything is to open up
the marketplace... encourage entrepeneurs to enter the market.
Provide incentives to modernize/increase efficiency and expand
and modernize production and manufacturing facilities. Lower
the barriers (regulation/red tape) that prevent smaller and
more agressive youg companies to establish themselves.



That will never happen with everyong drinking 'fuel' from the same pipe...





Think outsside the box. Find more pipes.

wrote:



Really? Got a $100K I can have to invest in the oil companies? I
don't have it myself, so your suggestion does me no good.


You don't need $100k in order to be an investor you doofus. Sign up
for a Schwab/Etrade/Scottrade account for as littel as $500.

Sheesh... the education system is this country is as corrupt
as the government. Oh yeah... schools are run by the government.