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Re: We're at War - Ration Gasoline!

When there is a water shortage

Funny thing is that I'm not aware of anyone not getting gasoline that wanted it. I'm not seeing gas stations with signs saying "no gas today" and others saying "gas here - $10 / gallon".

In a rational market that knows what it's supply is and what it's demand is, prices should remain stable until demand reaches 99% of supply. It's when demand = supply (or demand > supply) that prices should rise to reduce demand.

Gasoline is also funny relative to crude oil.

We have a situation (in the USA) where gasoline refinery capacity is more of a problem vs the supply of crude oil.

Yet when gasoline supply gets tight, crude-oil prices spike up (which doesn't make sense because a refinery problem necessarily means a temporary "glut" of crude waiting to be refined).

Gasoline has tripled in price in say 5 years. Did it cost more to refine that gasoline? Did it cost more to transport that gasoline to service stations? Crude oil has also trippled in price over the past

5 years. Does it cost more to pump a barrel of oil now than it did 5 years ago?

Maybe 50 years ago individual gas stations bought and paid for their gasoline supply and then could turn around and sell it for what-ever the market would tolerate, but today I think that gas stations owned by individuals (or independants) don't actually own the gasoline in their tanks (the refiners do, and they're the ones telling the gas station staff what price to set the sign at).

When it comes to crude oil that pumped from the ground (or oil well) in USA/Canada, does anyone know if the oil is "owned" by the gov't - and the oil companies pay a royalty or set amount for the right to pull it out?

There may be a global price for crude oil once it's in a barrel (or tanker ship), but what cut do the various gov'ts around the world get when that oil is pulled from the ground?

The free market won't work with gasoline as natural or man-made > shortages develop. The demand is simply too high so the price > will keep skyrocketing

Why is gasoline in Venezuela cost 17 cents a gallon?

Reply to
MoPar Man
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It's about 6 USD / US gallon here (London)... and no rationing/shortage...

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

I suspect the higher gas prices are caused by under production and they are lying about how much oil is really out there. There is a limited amount of companies that drill for oil, and no real way for us peasants to verify that there is only as much as they say. These people who run the oil companies are from the same mold who brought us WorldCom and Enron. A bunch of liars and thieves and I would not put it past them to artificially inflate the price of fuel to line their pockets.

Reply to
Steve

That's as ignorant a post as I've ever seen on Usenet. That's saying something, too.

OPEC openly works to control the price of cruide oil. Underproduction is the only tool they have. Did you miss that announcement? For the last 30 years? There are plenty of oil wells producing here in the States for $5 a barrel. But you don't have to sell for $5 a barrel, you can sell oil for the OPEC delivered price. So whoever controls each hole in the ground sets his price and keeps the money. No conspiracy required. If you don't like my oil at $60 a barrel, by golly you can get OPEC's. The oil companies own a some of the holes in the ground, and that's why they are making a more money when oil prices are high.

The reason gasoline is 15 cents a gallon in venezuala, then, is because people are selling their oil not at the OPEC price. Simple. They're selling it based on cost, I guess. American oil companies could do that, but they don't. It's also apparent that their refining costs are much much less than American costs.There are several reasons that could be so.

Now, the refinery supply and demand situation is completely different from OPEC. If oil company employees conspire to get prices up with any anticompetitive act here in the States, they stand a good chance of getting caught and put in jail. OPEC's toolbox is totally anticompetitive. Nothing they do would be legal here. So oil company employees in the States have a very different set of rules than do OPEC members.

There are certainly a lot of people who are ignorant about business who think that oil company employees sit around trying to figure out how to make less and less gasoline because it's profitable to not have enough. That's stupid. Whenever expanding the product pays more money than bank interest, it's time to expand.

Reply to
Joe

I'm going to just keep pulling my gas guzllin boat with my BIG OLE ra

1500 with the hemi and getting 10MPG..

My family car is a dodge charger R/T which a floor it all the time an

get down under 15MPG most of the time and 20MPG highway..

Screw gas rati> When there is a water shortage, you don't sell water to the highes > bidde

-- blan

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