I'm with you.
They have already been preaching in the radio and tv that gas will be back to $3/gal by June (coincidentally, that's when school is out and America begins to vacation too. Duh...).

If that first post sets you off, you don't EVEN want to open this link...
Ready for $262/barrel oil?

I am slowly reaching the point where I am WANTING to have the press censored - I KNOW, I KNOW, I can't believe me - of all people - would say that, but these "analysts" and "psychics" that come out and claim stuff like that article above do nothing but spur the civilian mass into a tizzy and create panic. It's like last fall, people "speculating" that hurricanes were going to do harm to the oil supply while they were still off the coast of Africa, but the price of crude and gas spiked due to the fear alone - and NOTHING ever happened but prices stayed up.

I think it's a shock-tactic... if they convince everybody that prices COULD be $5/gallon, then we will be ecstatic to pay $3/gal for it, right?

Pre-emptive marketing?!?! Predictive production?!?!
This is getting beyond goofy these days...
This sh1+ is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

 

Yup, gas is WAY too cheap to be inconvenienced by carpooling, using mass transit, riding a bike, buying a small econo car and anything else that potentially saves a lot more than 10-15%. Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

- Car pooling is fine if your neighbor or wife/husband works on the same street as you.

- Mass transit in the USA sucks (unless its NYC), I know I can't take the bus to work.

- I can only ride a bike during warm weather on a day with 0% chance of rain. I have a 7 miles to work, but side walks and bike baths suck or don't exist in most areas.

- A small car or a car with more mpg is a great way to go, but the Avg. American get a new car every 5 years, so if prices spike probably less than 20% of driver will be shopping. People with big families have no choise but to buy vans, and a Cobalt or Civic won't tow over 1000lbs. so that rules them out for a lot of people.

-Wheres the plug-in hybrid Diesel Colorado??? Some of use need and use pickups. 1/2 ton of crush stone in a Cobalts trunk =

I don't want this to be me


Thats what I'm thinking too.

 

262/bbl is ridiculous soros is a moron when it comes to oil, he's using scare tactics for political and economic gain....

3/gal in the summer is to be expected, why? The price goes up every summer...why? Because the government mandates they run specific blends for various parts of the country. You can thank the environmentalist wacko's for that.

 

Actually you can thank the Federal Gov't and state government for not standardizing the summer blend into 2 or 3 type instead of something like 17+ for different states. I like clean air as much as the next guy, but let be logical about it.

 

Don't they have to change refining processes to go back to winter blends too? So by that logic, if changing the refining process is what adds cost, then gas should perpetually go up, and never come down. That doesn't work?!?!

I think it has MUCH more to do with Americans hitting the roads for vacations and the sale of fuels going up significantly during the summer months.

And not to flame up or anything, but is EVERYTHING in the world that is bad due to a treehugger?

 

No you dont understand, there are just a few necessary winter blends due to the way pollutants act in hotter temperatures vs colder temperatures. They change to a few dozen blends in the summer time to satisfy a host of varying state requirements. THen in the winter they go back to a few blends that satisfy the state requirements. It's not really that hard to figure out if you just read a little.

 

What's the problem? Exxon gotsta feed their peeps.

 

That reminds me of when NBA star Latrell Sprewell was holding out for a $100 million+ contract...quote: "I'm just trying to feed my family"

Proud, I don't think it's the action of changing of the way gas is refined that makes it more expensive, it's what's in the summer blend of gasoline that raises the price...it is more expensive to refine summer gasoline. Ok, I can buy that. I'll also buy the fact that demand is higher in the summer. But do these factors warrant sustained raises of 80 cents or more per gallon?

 

They're in the business to make money, so I guess their stockholders are very happy.

If it was GM or Ford that announced that profit, would you be complaining they are gouging you with the prices for their vehicles, or praising them for turning around their company?

 

There's no comparison. Toyota turns stunning profits every quarter, and the price of their cars isn't completely out of line with a comparable brand/model.

 

Not all the employees at exxon make 100 million bucks in their lifetime...**** probably none of them do....good comparison

Most of their field hands make between 40 and 90 depending on what they do.

 

The difference is that the consumer has a choice not to buy a GM vehicle. They also have the choice not to buy a Toyota. The automotive market is flooded with cheap alternatives... Yes its a competitive industry.

The oil industry is insular... fuel prices are identical irrespective of brand. What choice does the consumer have? And the federal government gets a nice earning from oil... It's like the banking industry (in which I work)... the banks look after each other as well!!!

 

I was just saying that line reminded me of Sprewell....I know Exxon workers don't make near that much...which may be an even further indictment of a company that posted a $10B+ profit in one year.

 

Heh, although not thinking of Sprewell specifically, that was the sentiment I was trying to convey