Gas war - Bring down prices

[mcjohn]

I was going to post this on the "70 bucks a barrel of oil matched by rising airfare" thread but figured it was time for a new thread to argue about the cost of fuel. I just received this email:

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work


This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your consideration.


Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?

$2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. 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 $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not sellers. 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 hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And,
we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
How?


Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas but we
CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a pricewar.


Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point..keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!


I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least
ten more (30 x 10 = 300) .... and those 300 send it to at least ten more
(300 x 10 = 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the
sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers.
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

What do you all think about that?

 

[gear goes down]

It wont work...

 

[BenderGonzales]

I buy my gas at Wal-Mart. 3 cent discount if you use a Wal-Mart Discover card.

Now if only my local Sam's Club would get some gas pumps...

 

[FL717]

I was going to post this on the "70 bucks a barrel of oil matched by rising airfare" thread but figured it was time for a new thread to argue about the cost of fuel. I just received this email:

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

What do you all think about that?

I received this e-mail from someone ALOT smarter than me on petroleum economics, and here is what they say about your idea:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"A boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.

The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure, however."[/FONT]

 

[big_al]

yeah that will work... right. how about not buying products from out of state? even in-state they rely on trucks and other forms of transportation which account for the majority of gas sales

 

[SansPlane]

From: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp


Oil companies can manipulate their prices somewhat by controlling how much gasoline they produce and where they sell it, but they can't alter the basics of supply and demand: prices go down when people buy less of a good, prices go up when people buy more of a good, and prices go way up when demand outstrips available supply. The "gas out" schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two specific brands of gasoline for a while won't work, however, because they're based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for gasoline is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: gasoline is a fungible commodity, so if one oil company's product isn't being bought up in one particular market or outlet, it will simply sell its output to (or through) other outlets:
Economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says any boycott of "bad guy" gasoline in favor of "good guy" brands would have some unintended (and unhappy) results.

. . . Welch says the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."

So motorists would end up . . . paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.

And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."

Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline — and buy it all from somebody else's refinery."
A boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.

The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure, however.

 

[414Flyer]

I cant believe people read these stupid chain letters and believe this crap. The same people probably believe that passing on certain chain letters raises money for cancer patients and make a wish foundation.

The price of oil is similar worldwide, its not like BP, Total, Shell or Elf are selling theirs for less, and just evil american companies are charging more.

Its a worldwide commodity, and it aint going back to 30 a barrel ever. Changing the day you buy gas, or not dealing with certain companies is not going to lower the price of oil around the world.

Its still ironic though that the often the ones complaining most about the price of gas and oil, are the ones that most oppose new production.

The best way to pay less for gas, is to do things like drive less, learn to walk again or ride a bike around. Make sure your tires are at the right inflation and have clean air filters.

 

[Magic1872]

how about we start drilling in alaska!!!

 

[BenderGonzales]

How about we take some of this 200 billion dollars we've spent at war for the last couple of years and spend it on a "Manhattan Project" of sorts to figure out a way to make ourselves energy independant.

Something that is really outside of the box. Partner with Boeing, Ford, GM, and semi-truck manufacturers and start a moon-shot style program that gets us off of (or severely reduces our need for) petroleum.

(sigh) I know. Sci-Fi dreamin.

 

[414Flyer]

How about we take some of this 200 billion dollars we've spent at war for the last couple of years and spend it on a "Philadelphia Project" of sorts to figure out a way to make ourselves energy independant.

Something that is really outside of the box. Partner with Boeing, Ford, GM, and semi-truck manufacturers and start a moon-shot style program that gets us off of (or severely reduces our need for) petroleum.

(sigh) I know. Sci-Fi dreamin.

But we already have that ability, its just that people want a lifestyle that is going to make it impossible. I think a large dent could be made in gasoline consumption with usage of more efficent cars, and more biking/walking. Hey ,the latter would even result in healthier people too.

But as long as people drive commute with low MPG vehicles, or drive to go see someone across the street, its not going to happen. People are such whiny babies and do not want to do anything that inconveniences them, even if it is a good idea. Look at carpooling, it was viewed as wasteful to drive alone during WW2, and even in the early 80s it came into vogue again.

A sci-fi project isnt going to do anything unless people want to, and when it comes to a large auto compared to a fuel efficent one, more often than not, they chose the larger one, for various reasons.