Gas (Diesel) Prices

[drawson]

THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT TO ME BY AN ECONOMIST WITHIN THE FUEL
INDUSTRY. ANOTHER ECONOMICS PROFESSOR AT CAL REITERATED THE SAME
LAST WEEK. I THINK IT IS WORTH TRYING.

I got this from a reliable source. We heard today from a man
who is very savvy about the economy, namely, Clark Howard, and he
says that the gas prices are going to start going up again and will
be high this summer-$2 and up. We need to do whatever we can, and do
it NOW!!!!
Gasoline Prices
By now, you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1. 49
is cheap. Me too, as it is now $1. 58 for regular unleaded! Now
that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to
think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at less than $1. 50,
we need to try an aggressive response. With the price of gasoline
going up more each day, we consumers need to take ACTION! The only
way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we don't
buy it. But, (as the gas companies know full well, and are counting
on), that's not really a practical option since we all have come to
rely on our cars.
So, here's the idea: For the rest of this year, don't purchase
gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), namely
EXXON and MOBIL. You see, if they are not selling, they should be
inclined, (i. e. , "forced"), to reduce their prices. And, because of
their size, and hence market share, if they reduce their prices the
other companies will too. (They would HAVE no choice!). Isn't that
a "juicy" prospect? But to have an impact, we need to reach
literally millions of users. But it's doable!
I am sending this note to 15 people. If each of you send it to
at least 10 more ... and those 10 send it to at least 10 more and so
on, by the time the message reaches the sixth iteration, we will
have reached over one million consumers. Acting together we can
make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this
message on, or one you compose, to at least 10 more e-mail
addresses.

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO BELOW $1. 28 - $1. 29
AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK!

 

[joel]

OK, I've pretty much had it with these things. Boycott this, send an email, get a prize, etc. MOST of these things are false and don't even make sense. The basic idea's good, but it just doesn't quite have the follow through. I've even bought off on a couple like the one about over paying a traffic ticket to avoid it showing up in your license (sadly, false. read about it on the snopes page) There's an entire web page devoted to debunking these net legends at www.snopes.com. Here's their take on this one:

Gas Out
Claim: Boycotting a couple of gasoline brands will bring overall gas prices down.
Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]


Gasoline Prices
Whoever started this has a good point.

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1. 49 is cheap. Me too! As it is now $1. 58 for regular unleaded. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at less than $1. 50, we need to try an aggressive response. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we don't buy it. But, that's not really a practical option since we all have come to rely on our cars. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together.

Here's the idea -

For the rest of this year, don't purchase gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling, they should be inclined to reduce their prices -- and if they reduce their prices the other companies will too. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of users. But it's doable!

I am sending this note to 35 people. If each of you send it to at least 10 more ... and those 10 send it to at least 10 more ... and so on by the time the message reaches the sixth iteration we will have reached over one million consumers. Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on, or one you compose, to at least 10 more.

Thanks for your consideration.




Origins: Ah, springtime! The season for a number of important renewing rituals: housecleaning, the beginning of baseball season, balancing eggs on their ends, and the forwarding of ridiculous e-mails calling for oil company boycotts.

This year's litany is the usual one: Gasoline prices in the USA are too high; gasoline is a unique commodity whose price isn't subject to the usual market forces of supply and demand; OPEC and greedy American oil companies have deluded us into believing that current gasoline prices are actually comparatively cheap while they secretly manipulate the market to keep prices artificially high; and a simple boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline will rectify all this.

Now, if oil companies really can set their prices based not upon supply and demand, but based upon their amazing ability to mislead us into believing something expensive is actually quite cheap, why should a boycott of a couple of brands result in lower overall prices? Why wouldn't all the non-boycotted companies simply take advantage of the limited supply situation to raise their prices? You can't go back to buying from those other companies, after all, because you've already promised to boycott them.

Of course, if we really believe this "supply and demand" concept actually works (even on companies who we've just been told are largely exempt from market forces), then consider the inevitable outcome of this scheme: Demand for gasoline will increase for the non-boycotted companies; increased demand (without a corresponding change in supply) means higher prices; and therefore by the time this boycott starts to have any appreciable effect on the targeted oil companies, their previous prices -- the ones that were once unacceptably high -- actually will be cheap by comparison. Then, when everybody flocks to the previously-boycotted brands, increased demand will drive their prices up as well.

Next up: We demonstrate to those foreign automobile manufacturers that we want only American cars in this country by refusing to purchase automobiles from anyone other than Japanese car companies.

Last updated: 17 April 2001



The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/gasout.htm
Click here to e-mail this page to a friend
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2001
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petitions
Inboxer Rebellion
Search Send comments

 

[illflem]

Saw one on the news that was interesting. One of the multinational petro companies was selling fuel for less than a smaller competitor across the street could buy it for. The little guy sent a fuel truck across the street and started filling it to bring across the street to sell. They turned off the pumps from inside at 300 gallons and refused to sell more.

 

[anthony4]

Here in Michigan gas prices are high.
$1. 90 for reg. unleaded
$1. 95 for mid. unleaded
$2. 08 for prem. unleaded

diesel range from, the lowest I can find is
($1. 43 not bad), highest $1. 65

2001 2500HD Quad Cab SLT LWB, 4x4, Cummins, 3. 54 gears,
Deep Garnet Red, Agate, 4w ABS, tinted windows,
Camper and Trailer tow packages with trailer towing mirrors,
HD transfer case, snow plow prep, cab lights, travel conv group,
mopar nurf bars, Downey SST cover, Bed liner with fifth wheel hitch
Power driver seat with power lumbar,
loaded loaded loaded!!!!!!!

 

[Blackcloud]

anthony4 has the same prices as here in SE Wisconsin,except diesel averages $1. 549/gal. I like the idea of the boycott but will it really work?And will the oil companys really care enough to lower prices or just say who cares,pay the price. In theory it should work in our favor.

[This message has been edited by Blackcloud (edited 05-05-2001). ]

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Well. I guess we can simply gather in huddled little circles and WHINE piteously about fuel prices... #ad


OR, we can shoot down ANY suggestion to somehow pressure or motivate price adjustments...

BUT, if YOU were an owner or employee of one of the boycotted stations, saw YOUR pump bay empty while the ones across the street were busy, what would YOU do to attract the return of some business? Maybe consider a PRICE adjustment? Maybe pass some of your frustration on up higher to your supplier to get THEM to adjust pricing?

That seemed to work for Diamler/Chrysler when THEY got Cummins to adjust the pricing of our engines to allow better profit margins for DC...

Can't work for fuel buyers? Seemed to work in Europe a few months back when the trucking industry got organized...

NAhhhhh - better to bleat and whine piteously about how NOTHING will work... . #ad


------------------
http://community. webshots.com/user/davison71 Early '91 250, 727 AT, 307 rear... Banks Stinger exhaust, intercooler... US Gear OD... Tweaked pump, upgraded radiator... MORE than a match for every new PS Ford encountered so far...

"Dura" WHAT? NOW I know where all those recycled beer cans go...

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Hrmph Sheyah whatever :-laf



Sure they will ...



" got this from a reliable source. We heard today from a man

who is very savvy about the economy, namely, Clark Howard, and he

says that the gas prices are going to start going up again and will

be high this summer-$2 and up. "







7 years later ... ..... DOH!!!