Gas Prices

[dogbert]

Yeah, I was just reading an article about a reserve field they found in North Dakota that's got something like 4.3 billion barrels, but that it was only really economical to drill for it with oil above $50 a barrel. WTF are they waiting for? Kinda chaps my hide that they oil companies have record profits, but are looking for gov't handouts for exploration. Rah-r-rah rah-r-rah.

[samw]

I hear ya Brotha....Oil company's suck

[DieselPWR]

A new discovery takes time to drill and actually produce it. That 4.3 billion bbls is a estimated ultimate recovery most likely over a span of 30 years.

Oil companies do not decide the price of oil and natural gas, a little organization called OPEC does. Oil is a world commodity and they control the majority of the supply. Its not as if all the local gas stations got together and said 'lets just jack the gas price up and piss everyone off'.

The "handouts" are to produce areas that aren't economical too otherwise. Most of those "handouts" are more like a temporary tax break, until a new discovery is proven.

Keep in mind the more these oil companies drill the more the greater our supply will be.

[kko]

record profits and prices at all time high. well imagine that. it is the biggest bunch of ever. they are really going to put the avg. american in real trouble very soon. the govt. bailed them out when they were hurting now i hate to say it put the govt. needs to step in and put an end to this fleecing of america.
sore subject today as my boat took a $100 bucks worth and didnt even fill it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just a lttle sick of it thats all.

[Carter13]

There's no incentive for the oil countries to increase production. The old supply and demand is what is going on here. If you ask me I think these oil rich countries are making us pay dearly for the Iraq war, or it is Bush and his oil buddies.

[kana12]

it was 112 dollars a barrel two weeks ago. now i think its about 90. totaly ripping us off. my buddy that owns a bunch of oil wells is getting rich though selling to the oil companies...

[sparky216]

There's no incentive for the oil countries to increase production. The old supply and demand is what is going on here. If you ask me I think these oil rich countries are making us pay dearly for the Iraq war, or it is Bush and his oil buddies.

Carter I love ya, but I have to disagree. No incentive? Are you serious, that like saying that China want's the U.S. economy to colapse. The US is the major global consumer of oil. While most of our oil comes from Canada and South America, we do buy some from the middle east. If the US economy were to tank, ie...great depression, all those OPEC countries would follow right behind us. When the US goes into a depression, chances are that the global market follows. There are (last I looked) 13 currencies backed by the greenback and we are the number one trading partner with Canada, Mexico and a few other countries. The reason oil is so expensive, is actually the fault of our federal reserve, not Bush or Clinton, yes it's most likely Greenspan and Berneke (sp). Inflated dollars.......those my friend take more to equal non-inflated dollars of past. I believe that it is simple economics as the reason for the high cost of oil, not peak demand or OPEC looking to screw us......simple economics.

but that is just my humble opinion, perhaps it's bush, dom , and their "oil cronies".

[dogbert]

Sparky's right, no one wins if our economy tanks.

Can you guys believe that when this thread started, gas was at $2.17 a gallon? Seems cheap compared to now.

[samw]

At this point I would love to see $2.17 a gal for the summer.

[Carter13]

$3.49 for regular here yesterday. That darn Bush

[DieselPWR]

I don't understand why the profit oil companies make is an issue. do no other companies make rediculous amounts of profit???? Is it just the oil companies making any money.

At $112 bbl oil, there is plenty of incentive to increase production, believe me.

When 70% of the hydrocarbon consumed in the US is imported, you're are pretty much at the hands of where that majority is produced. OPEC produces ~30% of the worlds production (even though we have half the worlds wells) so that is why every time OPEC meets to discuss production levels the oil price is DIRECTLY proportional. Has nothing to do with Bush, oil is a world commodity and much bigger then Bush.

And you right, the oil price is ~20 $/bbl higher then it should be due to the weakness of the US dollar and investers moving there money into commodities (oil) for stability.

At the end of the day, $3-4 dollars a gallon is nothing compared to what other major countries are paying ($5-$8). America is the #1 consumer by a long shot so chalk it up to the demand for the lavish American lifestyle (i.e. our big Diesel trucks and nice boats ) We like our stuff big, and that comes with a price of high consumption.

[kko]

"I don't understand why the profit oil companies make is an issue. do no other companies make rediculous amounts of profit???? Is it just the oil companies making any money. "





yeah that would be ok if the govt did step and save thier azzes. Will the govt step in and save my buss. when it takes a crap hell no. im not for the govt. sticking their nose in evrything but it is getting out of control and it is time for them to step in and end this fleecing!

i pray for the day when an viable alternative fuel is found so those bastards can drown in their dam oil!!!!!!!

[spharis]

Sparky's right, no one wins if our economy tanks.

Can you guys believe that when this thread started, gas was at $2.17 a gallon? Seems cheap compared to now.

China is starting to see effects already. They calculated an increase in inflation last quarter due to the falling greenback. It is costing them more to get the product built there using the US dollar. Their currency was falling faster than ours. They were down to 10 luams?? to 1 dollar.

OPEC was pushing hard to break free from the dollar and move to the Euro. If that happens, it means very bad things for the US and the price of fueling it.

[sparky216]

I don't understand why the profit oil companies make is an issue. do no other companies make rediculous amounts of profit???? Is it just the oil companies making any money.

At $112 bbl oil, there is plenty of incentive to increase production, believe me.

When 70% of the hydrocarbon consumed in the US is imported, you're are pretty much at the hands of where that majority is produced. OPEC produces ~30% of the worlds production (even though we have half the worlds wells) so that is why every time OPEC meets to discuss production levels the oil price is DIRECTLY proportional. Has nothing to do with Bush, oil is a world commodity and much bigger then Bush.

And you right, the oil price is ~20 $/bbl higher then it should be due to the weakness of the US dollar and investers moving there money into commodities (oil) for stability.

At the end of the day, $3-4 dollars a gallon is nothing compared to what other major countries are paying ($5-$8). America is the #1 consumer by a long shot so chalk it up to the demand for the lavish American lifestyle (i.e. our big Diesel trucks and nice boats ) We like our stuff big, and that comes with a price of high consumption.

FYI= I'm not a big oil or Bush lover.....just thought I would that known.

That being said, the big oil profit margins are simiar to that of most companies if not less.
2004 Exxon Mobil earned more money -- $25.33 billion -- than any other company on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations. But by another measure of profitability, gross profit margin, it ranked No. 127.
A $9.9 billion quarterly profit is mostly a function of Exxon Mobil's size. It had sales of $100 billion this quarter, more than any other U.S. company. At its current rate of growth, Exxon Mobil will be the biggest U.S. corporation this year by revenue, bigger than Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which had $288.19 billion in revenue last year. Generally, the bigger the company, the bigger the bottom line.

Even so, many companies smaller than Exxon Mobil "earn" more, depending on what measure is used.

Most financial institutions, such as commercial banks, are routinely more profitable than Exxon Mobil was in its third quarter. For example, Exxon Mobil's gross margin of 9.8 cents of profit for every dollar of revenue pales in comparison to Citigroup Inc.'s 15.7 cents in 2004. By percentage of total revenue, banking is consistently the most profitable industry in America, followed closely by the drug industry.

So this is where this whole "windfall tax" bull$hit comes in, why not impose windfall taxes on banks and pharmacutical companies? How do we measure profit or excess profit, and wtf is "excess profit", seems like an oxymoron to me. Do we look at sums of money or margins of profit.

Perhaps I'm wrong...........just my

[DieselPWR]

Very well put Sparky.