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If I lived there, with a boat, I don't think I could convince myself to go to work 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-27-venezuela-gas_x.htm
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Exactly, and just to think, all that money we pay above 10-15 cents is PROFIT.
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Sounds frighteningly familiar...low gas prices are a "birthright". I'm not what you might consider an environmentalist, at least not a militant sort, but they seem out of control there. I would say I drive my cars/boats probably 30% less now than I did.
Eric
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Lived there for 5 yrs and had a 30ft cruiser to hit the beach. Filling the 125g tanks cost less than the price of a few cases of beer (also cheap at around $5 per case). No wakeboarding scene whatsoever though that I knew of and not many possible venues.
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Tim, the government "subsidizes" the cost of gasoline. meaning that the government pays all but 10-15 cents of the total cost of a gallon of gas. Sure, its probably not 3 bucks a gallon. but american oil companies are NOT making 2.85/gallon profit.
I don't think i would ever get off of my 30ft'er, except to get more beer and gas!
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You are probably right it probably costs more like $.30 a gallon to produce.
All of these price increases are pure price gouging.
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I even think it's more than .30 but I do agree that we're getting it square in the butt right now with the current gas prices. In Tampa gas was down to $2.65 before Hurricane Rita, then as soon as it was announced to hit Texas, prices shot back up to $2.95. On Monday's news cast they said that prices shouldn't go up and in fact they should go down even further because of the lack of demand and the lack of damage to the distilleries. What happens? Gas stays right at $2.90. There's no reason why it can't be back down to $2.45 right now. These guys are making millions and millions and millions off of us every day. My Dad lives in OKC and said that gas down there was $2.35. WTF? There's a .60 difference from Oklahoma City to Tampa?? Aaargh
/end rant
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Actually, domestic oil companies make about $.25 PROFIT per gallon. Another thing to realize is that it takes a while for prices to subside after something like Katrina/Rita. I got a text the other day saying "don't buy gas on Sept 1st. National boycott..." or something like that. I thought it was pretty funny.
Venezuela would be nice!! You could sack it out big time and spend like a buck at the lake
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Hey scott, you distill liquor, not gas!! just bustin on you a little, but your point is well made. Partially, the expense of refining gas is all the EPA regulations for "summer blend" and such. Factor into that cost also that the refineries we have, which are few, are not running at full production. Oil supply really isn't the problem, it's lack of refinery capacity and EPA regulations causing there to be a shorter supply.
Well and hurricanes too I guess!
Eric
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canada has a LOT of oil, maybe we tried to take over the wrong country
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I'm not buying the $.25/gal profit.
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straight from Exxon Mobil's quarterly report, released August 4. its actually 8% of whatever it sold for. and i used 3 bones a gal for an example
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092400253.html how about 99 cents a gallon?? I just googled it because I was curious.
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"In all, the companies that distribute, market and sell gasoline to the public took about 18 cents on each gallon of gas when the average price hit a peak of $3.07 a gallon on Sept. 5 in an Energy Department survey, analysts estimated. A year ago, they took 17 cents of each gallon, according to Energy Department data."
- from your article.
"99 cents compared to 47" does not mean 99 cents of profit or even 52 cents of profit. the cost of refining the stuff went up in the wake of Katrina.
I agree, its too damn high. just trying to bring some facts to the discussion.
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Nacho you're looking at two different figures. Distribution companies took 18 cents on the gallon up only 1 cent, however the refineries i.e. ExxonMobil are taking 99 cents to the gallon (3 times what they were taking a year ago). I agree that their cost might have spiked but it definitely didn't increase three fold. Proof is in ExxonMobil's profit up 32 percent in one quarter. I'm all for successful business, and I understand increased gas prices (a couple years ago I heard a study that said gas was one of the resources that the price hadn't increased as fast as inflation), however today's prices seem a little excessive. Might not be bad thing if it forces people to be more efficient, but 2000lbs of ballast and $120 fillups is killing me.
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as I mentioned 99 cents is not profit. a lot of platforms and refineries had to be rebuilt/repaired. and my numbers from XOM are from the end of the 2nd quarter. We'll have to wait until Nov to see how the storms affected big oil's bottom line.
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We're forgetting the whole supply and demand factor. The news reports panic everyone into hordeing as much gas as possible before both storms, the hit to the available supply raised the prices more than the Hurricane. Plus the storms themselves hold up tanker shipments in and out of the refineries both ship and trucks.
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By far the biggest component in the cost of a gallon of gas in the US is direct federal and state fuel taxes which is about 50% in most states. That doesn't even take into consideration all of the indirect taxes (i.e. corporate franchise tax, income tax, payroll tax, etc.) that are passed on to the only real taxpayers that exist - the consumer. Does it really take 50% of the cost of every gallon of gas we buy to provide decent roads??? I don't think so.
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Rick hit it on the head: excess demand from this country and limited refining capacity (supply) is really the key issue. for about 2 or 3 weeks after Katrina, the port where 25% of this country's crude oil is imported was shut down. there are still refineries offline. and until all are back online, or we start using less oil (not likely) prices will be higher and refineries will get more $$.
Rob, i've never knew taxes were so high. is gov't still getting 50% since prices went up?
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distilleries, refineries, same same. heh heh...
I'd be happy to pay $3 a gallon if our roads were decent.
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Bottom Line. You gotta pay to play.
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It's all good Scott...think of how expensive it would be to burn alcohol instead!!!
If people drive less, use less gas, the refineries will be able to keep up better. There is plenty of crude available to refine, just nobody open to do the job. Also, through the gulf a lot of oil is shipped from ports to refineries through pipelines which are destroyed. Also, there is a fair amount of gas delivered through similar pipelines along the gulf, which is probably why there are some shortages there. Here in Ohio, there is gas available but cost is the limiting factor.
I wonder why it's ok to relax EPA guidelines for summer blend, but it's not ok to relax guidelines on building refineries. Surely there is suitable land available, surely there are materials available, and we know there is crude available. I don't think the government is "siding" with big oil really, but there is little motivation for them to bring new refineries on when people have to pay the going rate. So we either need government run refineries and we can end up like Venezuela where the whole thing will collapse, or we can sponsor initiatives to develope alternate fuel sources. Not sure what the right answer is.
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i remember 3 years ago when gas was under a dollar here in FL...gas today is outragious, i started going to OWC instead of behind the boat for while until the price HOPEFULLY will go down...
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