here outside chicago 87 octane is 2.74 a gal. diesel is 2.68 a gal. and race gas if you need it is 5.00 a gal.opec. and the oil company's suck.these fool's are rapeing us at the gas pump.you can not make me believe that there is a gas shortage,because they are not rashining fuel or stopping production of fuel.they are just sticking it to us,it's the govorment's way of paying for this useless war we are in.

 

I've read all these posts and they are all good. Unfortunately, I refuse to make the oil companies rich. I purchased a bicycle and drive it to short places like the market, auto parts, etc. I've noticed a big change in my having to go to the pumps and even feel better health wise. I'll save my gas this way for crusing in my truck, and I'm even shortening the times and distance for that also. The problem is not bigger vehicles here. With the price of fuel going up, so does everything else, food, clothing, auto parts, etc LOL.... Truck drivers have to pay higher prices for fuel to deliver goods, thereby charging more for goods which we the consumer have to pay for. The sad part of this is our pay checks are not going up according to the increases in costs. I'm not buying a little vehicle because of the gas prices, nor do I want to remove hi performance parts to conserve gas on my truck. I'm just cutting down on driving and the distance of my driving. Definitely makes a difference when I fill up though.

 

Put $50 in the Excursion just now and it put 1/2 tank! Its not the government, OPEC, or the oil companies doing this to us. We aren't changing any of our habits (and don't think we have too). If you can blame the greenies. There hasn't been a refinery built in this country in years and no plans to. There isn't an oil shortage, just a gas shortage. Capacity is not keeping up with production. We're importing refined products now.

 

Hi All,

Well there might be another way to look at it.

Petroleum products are probably the most marketed products on the planet.

The price of crude is controlled directly by world demand. Big developing countries like China, India, and others are selling billions of dollars of their products to US and we are buying them at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, ETC.

As manufacturers make products overseas and those workers that started at pennies per hour now graduate to DOLLARS per hour they trade their bicycles, mopeds, and horse drawn carts for cars.

Take a look at automobile production in China, Korea, India etc. It's EXPLODING! People are buying cars there who used to take buses, walk, ride bikes, and ride horses!

China and India have over 1 billion people E A C H !! The same percentage of people in those countries want to drive cars as here!! They're just now getting to where they can afford cars.

Oil consumption in those countries will surpass our consumption eventually and the production will NOT keep up....they do not have any where near enough domestic oil production capability.


Does everybody know what happens when consumption exceeds demand? You cannot blame it on the war, oil companies, or political parties. "Supply and Demand" is a fact of life and it will not change unless governments place controls on either supply or demand (It's been tried....it's called Communism...it didn't work). I don't think we want that either.

In Europe they do it to some degree by placing INCREDIBLY high retail taxes on fuel!! (their wholesale price of gasoline and diesel is similar to ours!)

(For those who think the war was/is a really bad thing, how do you think it would be if Saddam or someone just like him was controlling ALL of the mid east oil? Does anyone think it would be great to have $200/bbl oil?)

For us, we need to stop using oil for electricity production and start using more nuclear.
(Eventually we need to be ALL nuclear for electricity production) There has not been a new Nuke plant built in this country in years. We need to start large scale bio-diesel and ethanol production also. I hate to say it (because I also buy foreign made goods......but we probably need to buy less "things" from other countries.

Those people in "other" countries have money to buy cars and imported petroleum products because they're (indirectly) getting paid by US to buy it!!

The last time I filled up my 94 diesel Suburban (that I bought new), that holds 42 gallons, It cost me about $100 to fill it. I don't drive it as much now. I cannot sell it because it's not worth much. My wife drives a diesel Jetta (45-50 mpg). I'm thinking about getting another one. When I fill up my 55 F-600 it's not cheap either.

Sorry for the rant. We have to keep the right perspective I guess.



Regards,

Rick

 

Rick, we are like minded. I too believe that Saddam was out of control and needed to be taken out.......of office that is . I fully believe that we need morre power plants which are nuclear. However, everyone is afraid of them. The nuclear material causes cancer and has other beastly effects. I like the E-85 or even the bio-deisel. However, those alternate fuels are not likely to become big sellers unless our fuel prices spike $5.00 a gallon and those alternate fuels stay at or below $2.00 a gallon. Then and only then will they become big sellers. I had considered putting on a propane set up on my 53 with a 460, but the kit was almost $1000. Will I ever save that much by using propane? Who knows. I would have to ask Hank Hill, and even then even HE may not know the answer. I dont drive the 53 that much. I usually drive our '05 mustang more. It has a V-6 and gets around 28 MPG on the freeway and 21 in town. I will just adjust my driving habbits until my pay scale matches the fuel scale.

I think we need a couple more refineries constructed in America and then we might be able to keep up with our demand. Also, if they would keep our refineries up and RUNNING, then we might be able to keep up also. However, OPEC sets the limits on how much oil may be refined and what the efficiency of OUR refineries may put out. Now, does that make sense to you? Me either. Those middle eastern jerks (I know OPEC isnt completely middle easter, but the MAJORITY of it is and the majority rules) will gouge us as much as they can financially until we pull our troops out of their lands. They cant beat us on the battlefield, so they will choke off our fuel supply. Pretty good thinking in my opinion. Oh well.....

Like I said before, I will just adjust until it all rides out. In 10 years, no-one will think twice about paying in excess of $3.50-$4.00 a gallon, but then again, we may all be making enough money to compensate that.

SIGH! Ok, I had my monthly gripe session.....I'm good for another month. Thanks guys....your such good listeners.....almost as good as my truck......

 

Gripe #2:

Did anyone else hear that Exxon-Mobile set a record for quarterly profits last quarter!

 

Oh Fifty4F100.....Dont even get me started....I thought I just finished my monthly perio.....errr....rant!

 

Not only were there record quarterly profits in the oil companies, the "Energy Bill" just passed and signed into law gave them billions of dollars for exploration! Nothing said though about refineries! I was at a gathering last week which featured our Congressional Representative and had a chance to talk to him. He said that part of the reason we are importing GASOLINE is due to previous oil company mergers. After the mergers some refineries were closed, workers laid off, lots of money saved, upward pressures placed on the cost of gas, and... more oil company profit. It sounds like the classic, create a shortage to boost profits.
As stated above, world demand for oil is catching up to that of the US. Economic energy wars, if not actual wars seem to be on the horizon.
In some ways it looks like some parallels can be drawn between oil consumption and smoking. Everyone knows smoking is bad. In an effort to curtail smoking, government has taxed tobacco to the point it is less affordable. Smokers grumble but keep paying the tax man. In an effort to curtail oil consumption, why not place a surcharge on new vehichles of $100 per mpg below 20. That way soccer moms who have to have a HumVee to drive their kids around can help with the national welfare and environment, not just hurt it. Then put the dollars received into development of alternative energies. I know it is oversimplistic, but something needs to be done to lower our energy dependence, in my opinion.

 

I am trying to lower MY energy dependance......I have just shut off the electricity to my house.....and now I am going to build a log cabin to live in like Grizzly Adams. teehee I'll live off the land....Never driving again....Yeah right!

The world is growing at an expodential rate. In fact, more people are being born than are dying. That is why I actually LIKE wars. It is good population control. Dont get me wrong, it sucks that people have to die for MORE people to live, but hey, it HAS to be done. In fact, I think that the united states NEEDS to be invaded. We are bursting at the seams. Now, if we WERE invaded, I would DEFINATLY pick up a gun and fight back....And I believe that we would fend off whoever was that stupid. However, it would be excellent population control, and we would have "curbed our energy consumption".

I agree that SOMEONE is creating a false shortage of petrol. However, I dont know who it is right off hand. Do you think that the elimination of ONE person would end this? Doubtful. Maybe the decimation of ALL governments would.....But then where would we be?

We have a TERRIBLE system, but it is the best one around on the planet. Until I have a way to FIX the problem, I try not to say much. It does no good to gripe about a problem, but not have a solution or even an IDEA for a solution.

I think that we should begin teaching our CHILDREN how valuable and precious our natural resources are. and to RESPECT tham and use them only when NEEDED. I have a job where I have no commute. I get up in the morning, roll out of bed and go downstairs and I'm at work. Not everyone is that fortunate. But just think about this, what would you do if you had no car? Try it sometime, live for a week without a car. Ride the bus everywhere. It takes planning ahead. I live in an area that has a GREAT bus system, and it STILL takes too long to get where I'm going if I ride the bus. If you think you could go for a week without a vehicle, try to go for a MONTH. My job, I have no commute, but for my SCHOOL, I have to drive 25 miles each way. 50 miles a day 4-5 days a week. Yes, I COULD take a bus, but I would have to quit my job to do it because the commute by bus would take me in excess of 3 hours EACH WAY! I suppose I COULD ride my bike....but that is quite a distance to ride every day. My schooling only lasts another 2 months....Then I'll be set free and I'll have ZERO commute. THAT will help take a bite out of the petrol bill every month.

Darn guys....I get so MAD sometimes when I start to think about it.

 

Bob, about the E-85 (E stands for Ethanol and 85 for 85%, the other 15% is gasoline added so people don't try drinking it like hair spray).

Try www.e85fuel.com

As far as using it in a 2004 Dodge, you'd probably be better off than using it in a 40's or 50's Ford. Check the owners manual to see if it is a Flexible Fuel Vehicle. Many new cars (my 2000 Taurus included) are FFVs. The site above has a list and says that 2004-2005 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 4.7L is a FFV. I found a few pumps near my in-laws that have it, but it was $.20 to $.30 more per gallon in the mountain west. So I have not used it yet. Must be produced in the MidWest so it's cheaper there.

As for the prices there have been some valid reasons given, I'm sure they are all contributing, but from an ecomomics point of view the demand has only been touched.

Welcome to ecomonics 101:
Everyone should be familiar with the supply and demand relationship. The two are graphed with the price going up and the quantity going to the right. Supply goes up from left to right, the higher the price a product can be sold at the higher quantity the supplier will want to sell. Demand goes down from left to right, the lower the price the higher quantity the consumer will want to buy. There is a point where the supply line crosses the demand line, this is the market equilibrium. The supplier knows that if they charge less, they won't make as much profit and if they charge more they won't sell as much (meaning less profit). So suppliers want to charge just as much as they can without causing consumers to buy less. Raise your hand if you see where I'm going with this. Very good. That's right, we are being charged more to see exactly how much we will pay before we stop buying. The problem is that we all have a minimum amount of gasoline that we feel we have to use. Notice I didn't say have to, but feel we have to? We have a choice, but right now most people are choosing to use the same amount of gasoline. It's not very convenient, but it's what is going to have to happen. I love the idea of the E-85 and bio-diesel. I saw an episode of Trucks where he showed a kit to make bio-diesel at home. I was about to order one when I realized I don't own a diesel. If everyone used less then it would show that our demand line is not flat (that would mean we will pay whatever they charge us).

Class dismissed.

 

You will have to forgive me for the following comment:

"You guys do not know how well off you are!"

I would love to pay $2-3 a gallon.

Here in my local gas station in the UK, the cost of standard unleaded is the equivilent of $6.15 a gallon! As someone pointed out in an earlier post, a large part of the cost is TAX. Our govenment charges a whapping 80% or there abouts in Tax on fuel. Oh and then we also get charged Road TAX to use the car on the public highways as well as recently introducing Toll roads and now Congestion charging in major cities.

It wouldn't be so bad if any of the money taken was actually used on improving the state of our roads.

It just all leads me to beleive that our government is doing all they can to make it as expensive and inconvenient as possible for motorists.

There is also talk now of applying a Super TAX on fuel, rather than the usual 80% in addition to the Road tax. What this would mean is that anyone who has to travel long distances (or has a big gas guzzling engine) will pay a lot for the privalige.

oh well, Rant over...

Better get back to rebuilding the 400 CU 335.

 

L.w.L.

Well it seems to me that y'all over there living in the U.K. NEED to kick Parliment in the **** to Rattle their Brains & Explain how Unhappy y'all are about it & other Rights they've Passed Unreasonable Laws on & make them change it.

 

When I make my move to Florida, I may fill er up with some E85 on the trip. is there a major performance drop by using the E-85 instead of regular unleaded? If so, I'm not going to use it.

 

This is a great example of how govts try to control use with taxes! I recall a "tiff" over tea some years ago!! :-)

It's interesting to note that the actual wholesale price of refined gasoline might even be a little less there in the UK than here because North Sea Crude might be a little cheaper for UK use. The govt makes the price whatever they want with taxes however. That cannot be blamed on oil companies AND it is totally unrelated to oil company profits. They really don't make any more than a company makes on other commodities. Is anyone suggesting govt controls on the prices? Has that EVER worked as intended? Not only has it never worked but it will never work.

NEVER let the govt get its hands on the free marketplace! Any govt will always screw up the free marketplace!

In reality I think most people here know EXACTLY how good we have it. (some don't though!) I for one want it to stay that way too! In addition I want our friends in the UK to have it the same way! You might need to do a little "work" on your govt though. The vote is a powerful thing! Maybe you need another Iron Lady! We sure loved her "over here"!!



God Save The Queen!



Cheers,


Rick

 

I don't want to live in another country, I don't even want to leave the Midsouth. If it weren't so hard, I'd start an oil company! Seems they could use the competition. Tennessee doesn't have much oil!!