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.

 

[BenderGonzales]

Sadly we're the victims of urban sprawl. It is not possible for me to walk or drive my bicycle or walk to work or even to the grocery store.

I sold my 4X4 last year and bought a small car that gets around 30mpg.

I see car dealerships in my area starting to write the gas-mileage on the windshields of the cars in their lots. The Honda dealership is pushing scooters.

There IS a tipping point. Some dollar value after which there will be a change. Our economy can not continue to grow as oil prices climb. Trucking fleets, ocean-liners, airplanes... these are the drivers of the economy.

A television is made in China. It is put on a container ship and brought to the United States. When it gets here it is put on a semi-truck and taken to a distribution center. There it is put on another truck and brought to your neighborhood Target, Wal-Mart, Best-Buy etc.

Eventually the increased transportation costs will have to be factored into everything we purchase.

 

[91100 100 set]

I don't think that boycott thing worked the last 4 times I have seen an email to that effect (ie. every time the price has jumped more than 20-30 cents in less than a month).

Had an interesting thought the other day. How many vehicles out there do you see advertising the type/size of the engine powering it? Dodge loves to stick those "HEMI" plaques all over it's vehicles. 3.7L V6 on Jeep products? 5.0L V8 on the GT Mustang? How long until you see those plaques replaced with 25/30 or 32 MPG?

Call me a left wing nut (I might just agree with you), but I'd much rather advertise that it only takes me a single 16 gallon tank to go 400 miles rather than having dropped an extra 3 grand on an extra liter of displacement.

 

[jetflyer]

Bender,

Don't forget ALL plastics are made from OIL. So are most fertilizers, pesticides, all asphault, and a lot of chemical products. There are a lot of other goods made from fossil fuels.

Ever heard of PETROchemicals? petro=oil

From: http://www.energybulletin.net/2620.html

The oil-price increase could add pressure for higher prices on a wide range of products including foam cups and nylon, which are largely made from oil-based chemicals; and other products such as carpets, automotive bumpers, dashboards, tires, CD cases and plastic boxes that use a blend of chemicals from oil and natural gas.

Only about 2/3 of the oil we use is for transportation.

So it's not just the transportation costs that will increase the prices of those goods.

Jet

 

[BenderGonzales]

Is anybody else considering buying a moped or scooter to get back and forth to work?

Maybe it's a silly idea, but I've seen some late model scooters on Ebay for under $1000. Around 250cc that supposedly get anywhere from 70 to 90 mpg.

I drive about 20 miles to work each day (40 round trip). So even in a car that gets 25-30 mpg it adds up pretty quickly.

 

[jetflyer]

Bender,
I have been.

Check out these scooters that are electric and can be plugged into the outlet in your garage. They go over 60 mph as well and has over a 70 mile range. They're pretty cool looking too.

http://www.vectrixusa.com/index3.html

Electricity costs are about 50 cents to fully charge the batteries!

They claim you'll save over 90% on the energy costs over a gas-powered scooter! Not bad.

Vectrix plans to launch the scooter in the United States in 2006.

Jet