Fuel Gouge?-you Decide

[Drewhenry]

#@$%! On my way to school this morning fuel was 2. 999 on one side and 2. 799 on the other. 6 hours later it is 2. 999 everywhere----GASOLINE HAS NOT GONE UP AT ALL#@$%!:--)WTF. I know oil traded the highest ever @$81/barrel within the past 24 hrs but why has gas not gone up instantly as well.

On the bright side I have located a filling station whose diesel fuel is cold to the touch! Everything else is status quo.

Andy

 

[PToombs]

Diesel went up here . 10 last week. Today I see gas has gone down about . 12 in the last few days! WTH?



Darn oil companies!

 

[WDixon27]

went up a dime at the cheap place since last night, up a quarter at the nasty places in the last couple days

 

[TboneMan]

One report I saw is that inventories were down and refinery production was running at over 90% capacity.



It is simple supply and demand. They can't make enough to keep the tanks full. A slight scare with weather in the gulf of mexico region or a threat to the supply chain will cause speculators to drive the price up.



If you, as a speculator, see that XYZ product is going to be in short supply, you buy a bunch of it and are willing to pay extra for it. Then when you are the only person with a stockpile of XYZ, you are able to charge even more for it. That is of course, assuming someone still wants it.



The solution? Increase supply or reduce demand.



Since there is little incentive for the oil companies to build additional refineries, there's only one choice, reduce demand.

 

[SHobbs]

Supply and demand my butt. It is pure greed plain and simple. When gas was around $1. 25-1. 35 oil companies were making 30 million in profit. At the current levels they are making 40 billion in profit. Think about it this way after a hurricane hits they warn business owners that price gouging will not be tolerated well who gets to jack up the prices, oil companies do. They are allowed to increase their prices. The way that oil is traded is one of another problem as well.

 

[Johnny5]

Let me preface my response in that the stations I have been watching for the last 2 months the gas prices fluctuated almost everyday and the diesel pretty much stayed at $3, not to mention the gas was always a little higher. Now this past w/e diesel jumped $0. 25 cents and is now 15 cents more than gas. That kind of jump has made me pretty mad. What gets me is diesel HAS been pretty steady for a decent amount of time and now we get this kind of a jump... . What jusitifies the big jump...

 

[PToombs]

Mr. CEO just bought a new yacht, and needs to fill the tank.

 

[cahammer]

got to remember its about that time to start with the winter diesel thats why i buy bulk @ 10,000 galons a shot ya its expensive but i get a bulk rate lol

 

[MAllen1]

I guess you could always buy off road diesel fuel ( for those pre-07 w/o cats trucks) and keep and emty atf bottle in the back of the bed. That way you get stopped, you just poured the bottle in. May save you some money, or not. Depends on if you get called out, your risk.

 

[Drewhenry]

I guess you could always buy off road diesel fuel ( for those pre-07 w/o cats trucks) and keep and emty atf bottle in the back of the bed. That way you get stopped, you just poured the bottle in. May save you some money, or not. Depends on if you get called out, your risk.

One of several problems with ATF fluid is not enough dye to contaminate 30+ gallons of fuel to the color of red diesel. The amount of ATF needed to color diesel red is astronomical and most ATF fluids are synthetic and don't burn worth a cr@p.

 

[RolandJ]

its absoultly rediculous if you ask me #@$%!... in the last week diesel has gone from 2. 69 to the current price this am of 2. 93. yet gas is 2. 47 . And i like when you ask sumone at the station why it went up and those SOB's just smile :-{}

 

[nickleinonen]

fuel is still cheaper for you guys. $3/us-gallon is cheap. fuel is about $3. 50 a us-gallon up here. dollar for dollar is now the same between canadian and us dollar [heck, at one point today, canadian dollar was trading higher than the us dollar]

 

[PToombs]

It's up to $3. 15 here now. Gas is starting to climb a little.

 

[JFaulkner]

I've got just what some of you aparently need. #ad




It's not gouging, that's been investigated so many times with always the same results. If you think an 8% profit margin is gouging I'd like to know what your idea of fair is. I don't like paying it either but believe it or not it's not a grand conspiracy. Oil companies are publicly traded, if you own stock in those companies the "HUGE UNFAIR PROFITS" help you too.

 

[RolandJ]

true you are aright. I own stock in oil companies so i cant complain

 

[FYarcho]

Well I just find it interesting that the price of a barrel of oil goes up one day, the next day the gas stations are increasing the price. But when the price of oil drops seems like it takes months for the price at the pump to come down.

 

[MMeier]

Oh heck, just wait 2 more months, I'm sure we will all be moaning about it. :{

 

[MMeier]

got to remember its about that time to start with the winter diesel thats why i buy bulk @ 10,000 galons a shot ya its expensive but i get a bulk rate lol

Damn, and i thought I was saving a bit by buying 225 gallons yseterday @2. 50 a gallon for the '93 truck.

 

[BNH4221]

Simple supply and demand. Winter is coming and all those homeowners are filling up their oil tanks for the impending cold weather.

No new refineries and increased demand equal increased price.

FWIW diesel was $2. 79 last week and is now $2. 99. Wait until winter blend hits next month and you mileage goes down. It's like a double whammy!



The way I look at it, an additional 20 cents a gallon costs me about an extra $7 per tank. It stinks but I paid somewhere around 40k for the rig. If I was worried about 7 bucks I would have bought a Prius.

Hey, it makes no sense but it helps keep me sane. That, and beer.....





Steve

 

[TboneMan]

It is interesting that we are so quick to cry "greed" when the fuel prices jump. "Those darn oil companies!"



All they are doing is supplying a commodity we all need.



Lets direct some of aggravation at "big corporate" home builders for flooding markets (CA, NV, FL) with outrageously expensively home (typically built with low cost immigrant labor) and mortgage companies that loan money to anyone despite little evidence that the buyer will be able to pay the loan back.



Greed has caused a near collapse in the loan industry and a collapse of value of the US dollar. $1. 40 buys 1 Euro, the Canadian dollar is now par with the US dollar. Remember this when your company gets bought by an international conglomerate and your boss has to report to his/her bosses in Germany, the UK, India or Dubai.



We, as consumers, have to take control.



For oil, do what you can to reduce demand. Drive slower, combine trips, run that errand on the way home rather that making a special trip.



For other things, we need to read more carefully and ask questions. If the deal seems too good to be true, back away. Read labels, and say "No" when your kid wants that silly little toy in the dollar store or Wally World. If there is no demand for stuff from China, their need for energy will be reduced. Put the money you save in the bank. The US savings rate stinks because we "consume" too much.





Ok, I feel better now, I'll get off my soap box now.