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Senior Member
I,m already there and had a good day Fri. pullin in almost 100#'s cats and a couple spoons LEGALLY...lol come on over to the Falls it will take your mind off the other lakes and the gas prices ...
Senior Member
Not sure how this can be amusing? Seems to me you have to stand for something. Noone is fooled into thinking that these companies will go under by a few guys not buying gas from them.Originally Posted by Fishin_4_Fun
Reducing demand is a simple idea but a difficult plan, who in the world could get that ball rolling?
Senior Member
Where you been Chuckster???
Senior Member
We all hate to pay more for gasoline, but lest be a little realistic and lay blame where it is deserved.
Contrary to what has been alleged in this discussion, the big oil and gas companies don't set the prices based on what they want us to spend. They don't manufacture supply restrictions. And while they are trying to make money, they are not cheating us to do it.
The gas you get at most pumps comes from the same place and through the same pipeline. Where it gets differentiated into Shell, BP, Marathon, etc is after it is delivered to your area. Different dealers have a different batch of cleaners, stabilizers, and additives that go right before being placed in the trucks and taken to the stations. The price of gas, while dependent in part on the proce of oil is not based entirely on the price of oil. Other factors going into our pice at the pump include the current gas inventories at the wholesalers, current refining capacity that is online, and current (and projected) demand. There is a market where gasoline is traded just like any other commodity and that price combined with our local taxes and tarrifs is what determines what we pay.
Before looking at the supply issues, it is important to answer one interesting question. Who really makes money when you buy your gas? It is a true FACT that the biggest profit made on every gallon of gas sold goes to the government in taxes. Our politicians seem to respond to us when prices go up. They launch investigations of gouging, price fixing, intentional supply restrictions. But never to they put back the money that the government skims off of every gallon sold. And this ignores any corporate tax collected on their profits.
One of the points offered earlier is that 'is seems odd that all the refineries seem down for repair at the same time'. There are two things that cause this phenomenon. First, the refining process is optimized differently based on the season. In spring, the refineries have to be taken offline to change over to the summer optimization. This is necessary because in the summer months, the primary product consumers need from the oil is gasoline, while in the fall, they need to increase the amount of heating oil producted. This compounds with the other issue in the spring: The demand for Gasoline is on a steep rise as the summer driving (or as we call it, fishing) season kicks in.
So lets get to the issues causing our rising fuel costs. Firstly, while oil's cost is up some, oil shortages are not present. There is plenty of oil currently available and with vast reserves just being tapped in Canada, Russia, and a new one in the Gulf there is plenty for the foreseeable future. As long as we continue to pursue a viable alternative, there is enough oil to keep us going until that alternative is found. Since the availability of oil is not the issue, there is only one remaining thing to restrict our supply of gas... refining capacity.
The gasoline refineries are running at 97-98% capacities, year round just to keep up with our demand right now. That means that whenever there is any necessary down-time on any refinery, it has an immediate and meaningful impact on that supply which in turn drives our prices up. So why not biuld more refineries? There are two things that prevent the gasoline companies from building more capacity. The first is cost. It costs billions to get the necessary permits, inspections, materials, land, etc to build a refinery. These businesses must be profitable, so in order to justify spending those billions, they must be certain that they will make that money back. If we are going to succeed in finding our alternate energy source within 10 years, the new refining capacity would not pay for itself.
The second contributing factor to gas companies decision not to build more refining capacity contributes to the first. Our politicians refuse to make it viable for anyone to do anything about increasing the refining capacity (or producing more oil, for that matter). I'm not talking about the current administration, but our congress dating back to the Carter administration. It isn't a Republican/Democrat issue as no one on either side has done anything to promote the improving of our petroleum infrastructure. The largest part of the cost of building a refinery is the tax/tarrif/permit fees. All of those fees could be waived (or subsidized) if someone *really* wanted to do something about this issue.
Just to make the point crystal clear, there is a *huge* oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Florida coast. Our own environmentalist lobby has made oil exploration in this area illegal for US interests. so instead of an american company being able to drill and refine this oil, companies from other less environmentally conscious nations are taking it. Obviously our environmantalists in this country think they are preventing us from causing an ecological disaster. The problem is that the people that do get at this oil are far more likely to cause a spill than americans would, and we will be the ones having to clean it up.
CC
Last edited by clintcone; 04-30-2007 at 10:33 AM.
Senior Member
Mark, It's time.....call me if ya want your arm hurt lol...Chuck
Senior Member
right on clint....thats what I have been saying all along, I think the biggest problem is the EPA won't allow the construction of any new refineries with all their harsh restrictions. The refining capacity is what contributes to high pump prices, that and the fact, WHY IN THE WORLD would they want to build more refineries and invest $$$ to have the pump price drop and profits lowered....that would be lunacy from an oil companies standpoint....so the moral of this story is.....we're screwed.....get used to it or take up needlepoint, its not going to get any better.
Senior Member
Its funny how in the past these discussions have been banashed to the "Open Discussion" forum faster than jihadi running from a BBQ stand. I guess that as long as no one sticks up for the free market and someones right to make a profit, it is concidered a viable topic in the "Kentucky Discussion Board". Strange... very strange. I guess the moderators own stock in alternative fuel technologies....
Keep on chuckin'
Senior Member
Sure they will lower the gas tax and then raise all kinds of others.
Senior Member
Well i started this -now i may be fishing this week yep fishing been awhile gas down the street down to 2.91 wow i better go while it is down so low lol
Senior Member
I've been seeing a thing going around where on May 15 they want no one to get gas, kinda like a protest I guess... Don't really know all the details
Senior Member
It would be a little easier to swallow if the prices were close to the same,why is one loves truck stop 2.98 while another is 2.85 both have pilot fuel,one shell here in town is 2.88 while one down the road has not been less than 2.69 for god knows when,even when it was 2.29 everywhere else,but there is always someone getting gas.oh well peee on it,i'm going fishing.
Senior Member
The Democrats don't have the numbers to do that yet. After this next election when they take over more Senate Seats you will see heads roll.
As long as Bush controls the Justice Dept you won't see gas prices go back down. You have to go after EXON using the justice dept and the democrats don't control the justice dept. They can't even get the head of the Justice Dept to tell them why he fired all those US Attorneys. Was it because they were not going after the Dem? Some thing so.
If you can afford to go to college these days you are not too bad off. It cost my pocketbook a lot less to get a degree 25 year ago. These day's it cost over $10,000 a year just to go to a State College. If you go to a private school it's more like $40K a year.
Most people won't stop fishing but they will travel less distance to fish. That's called CONSERVATION. It's actually a good thing for the environment. Less air pollution! But I'd rather have lower gas prices myself and cars that pollute less.
I can't believe some of you guys stayed home over this! Im a college student, I am usually on the brink of being pennyless, but I'll attach little wheels to the bottom of my jonboat and pull it with my bike if I have to. I caught a 6.1 and two 4lb largemouths Sat. My partner and I had a 40 bass day.
I wonder about some of you
By the way, didnt the democrats promise to lower gas prices before they got voted in?
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