Got Gas? U.S. Economy to Worsen as Gas Prices Skyrocket

[Londo_Jowo]

Nothing has changed in three years, in fact apparently has gotten worse or better if you like profits and paying higher prices than the rest of the country.

Sounds like you should move. I did 2 1/2 years ago.

This where your bonus money comes from?

The company where I work is very diverse, the company's income is derived from different industries and from sales/service from overseas customers.

 

[chucky2]

The ingredients in the blend determine the cost. One of the most expensive components is the catalyst used in the CAT crackers. The change out cost millions of dollars and it can't be reused.

Millions is like one week of increased costs. How does that translate into a cost that never disappears?

And Dave's article btw about fires and electrical problems reducing supplies is more BS IMO. These are F'ing oilmen. If they wanted these refineries fixed ASAP so as to be at full output, they'd be fixed, period.

Chuck

 

[The-Noid]

Problem with refineries is no one wants them around them. Same with nuclear.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Millions is like one week of increased costs. How does that translate into a cost that never disappears?

And Dave's article btw about fires and electrical problems reducing supplies is more BS IMO. These are F'ing oilmen. If they wanted these refineries fixed ASAP so as to be at full output, they'd be fixed, period.

Chuck

That's millions for each process/blend in every refinery producing gas.

I work in the machinery maintenance/repair field, it can take as much as a month to repair some equipment as the parts are not stocked. Depending on the amount of fire damage to wiring this take will take more than a month as well. Removing the wiring, replacing the wiring, testing the circuits, and then recommissioning the process.

 

[chucky2]

If it's going to take months to fix equipment that is going to cost your customers Billions in increased costs, which has a direct impact on the country, then these companies need to start staging the proper amount of spares so as to swap them out faster and recondition the old unit.

It is not acceptable to have major infrastructure that impacts the entire country/entire regions of the country down for months.

If the country were a Corp, there is no Corp. on earth that would be OK with large chunks of their IT department being down for months in production. Not acceptable.

Chuck

 

[Londo_Jowo]

If it's going to take months to fix equipment that is going to cost your customers Billions in increased costs, which has a direct impact on the country, then these companies need to start staging the proper amount of spares so as to swap them out faster and recondition the old unit.

Make the parts and equipment tax free, I'm sure the refineries would purchase both and have spares on the shelf. Otherwise they're not willing to pay taxes on hundreds of millions dollars worth of equipment and spare parts.

 

[Engineer]

Rising gas prices effecting the economy....

 

[chucky2]

Make the parts and equipment tax free, I'm sure the refineries would purchase both and have spares on the shelf. Otherwise they're not willing to pay taxes on hundreds of millions dollars worth of equipment and spare parts.

They don't need hundreds of millions, they only need what has long repair/lead times in case of significant downtime. They might need tens of millions. Tens of millions is a drop in the bucket for them.

I'd support making it tax free though if it was designated as a spare. If it's not used as a spare in case of emergency, but as a planned upgrade or part of a new buildout, then it'd have to not be tax free though.

But really...given how long this stuff is used for, even if it was a Billion....chump change to them.

Chuck

 

[zephyrprime]

Make the parts and equipment tax free, I'm sure the refineries would purchase both and have spares on the shelf. Otherwise they're not willing to pay taxes on hundreds of millions dollars worth of equipment and spare parts.

First of all, let me say that I am generally against giving any sort of special treatment to any group. Next, wouldn't the parts already be tax deductable as a capital expenditure? Capital expenditures are amortizable over the lifetime of the equipment.

 

[Darwin333]

Nothing has changed in three years, in fact apparently has gotten worse or better if you like profits and paying higher prices than the rest of the country.

This where your bonus money comes from?

They could always try using the same gas as most of the rest of the country versus a "special blend".

 

[Darwin333]

If it's going to take months to fix equipment that is going to cost your customers Billions in increased costs, which has a direct impact on the country, then these companies need to start staging the proper amount of spares so as to swap them out faster and recondition the old unit.

It is not acceptable to have major infrastructure that impacts the entire country/entire regions of the country down for months.

If the country were a Corp, there is no Corp. on earth that would be OK with large chunks of their IT department being down for months in production. Not acceptable.

Chuck

Then we should let them build new ones so a single plant going down doesn't have such a huge impact.

 

[Darwin333]

They don't need hundreds of millions, they only need what has long repair/lead times in case of significant downtime. They might need tens of millions. Tens of millions is a drop in the bucket for them.

I'd support making it tax free though if it was designated as a spare. If it's not used as a spare in case of emergency, but as a planned upgrade or part of a new buildout, then it'd have to not be tax free though.

But really...given how long this stuff is used for, even if it was a Billion....chump change to them.

Chuck

Last I heard the refining business wasn't especially lucrative. Not long ago one company was selling its refineries around here because they were losing money. I'm not sure if that was because of internal issues or not but I don't believe most refineries have the kind of chump change you think they do. Even if owned by a big oil company, why would you spend potentially years of that refineries profit to stock parts you may or may not need?

I say we let them build the shit out of new updated refineries and get rid of these mostly old and expanded ones. They have been a lot like the nuclear industry, forced to expand existing sites because few new sites are approved.

 

[Muse]

Sheeeeiitt!!! I haven't stuck the keys in my car's ignition for weeks. Been roller skating and biking all over town. Suck my exhaust pipe, ya won't get nothin'.

 

[airdata]

I had my first $40 fill up in a long time last night... if we get real nutty I'm going to consider walking or biking to work since it's not really far.

 

[bigdog1218]

The ingredients in the blend determine the cost. One of the most expensive components is the catalyst used in the CAT crackers. The change out cost millions of dollars and it can't be reused.

The catalysts are used regardless of the blend, whether its zeolites for the crackers, or Pt for refining. Those costs are already priced into the gas and wouldn't cause any jump in price from season to season. The only real difference in blends is the amount of each component, and the summer blend is generally more expensive to produce.

 

[Muse]

I had my first $40 fill up in a long time last night... if we get real nutty I'm going to consider walking or biking to work since it's not really far.

You'll be amazed how much better the world looks when you don't have glass between you and it.

 

[Scotteq]

You'll be amazed how much better the world looks when you don't have glass between you and it.

Like a Motorcyclist??

 

[werepossum]

Like a Motorcyclist??

I always wear a full coverage helmet with a shield, but the world still looks better and more real to me on a bike, AND I get almost 50 MPG (650cc Ninja.)

 

[chucky2]

Then we should let them build new ones so a single plant going down doesn't have such a huge impact.

OK?

Last I heard the refining business wasn't especially lucrative. Not long ago one company was selling its refineries around here because they were losing money. I'm not sure if that was because of internal issues or not but I don't believe most refineries have the kind of chump change you think they do. Even if owned by a big oil company, why would you spend potentially years of that refineries profit to stock parts you may or may not need?

Why? Because being down and driving up the price of fuel for the country/region is not acceptable? Split peas aren't part of the national infrastructure, fuel is. If the owners really couldn't afford to stock impossible/very hard to replace key parts, then they shouldn't be getting a license to operate in the first place. What kind of lunacy is it that we'd allow something so key to be down for so long? How about that same type of thing for electricity: Yeah, we know you haven't had power for 3 months now, but, we had some parts issues and it'll be another 4 months. Oh, yeah, btw, the cost of your electricity is going up by 15% in perpetutum...special blend of electricity and all...

I say we let them build the shit out of new updated refineries and get rid of these mostly old and expanded ones. They have been a lot like the nuclear industry, forced to expand existing sites because few new sites are approved.

Agree completely. If they're going to be shutdown for that long, they can pre-stage the design, shutdown the current refinery (when building alongside won't work) and mass implement the pre-staged refinery. No reason to trash the grounds of another location unless there's a clear environmental positive reason for doing so.

Chuck

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Last I heard the refining business wasn't especially lucrative. Not long ago one company was selling its refineries around here because they were losing money. I'm not sure if that was because of internal issues or not but I don't believe most refineries have the kind of chump change you think they do. Even if owned by a big oil company, why would you spend potentially years of that refineries profit to stock parts you may or may not need?

They're experiencing the same issues that many states/localities are experiencing.....huge retirement benefits costs.

 

[Darwin333]

Why? Because being down and driving up the price of fuel for the country/region is not acceptable? Split peas aren't part of the national infrastructure, fuel is. If the owners really couldn't afford to stock impossible/very hard to replace key parts, then they shouldn't be getting a license to operate in the first place. What kind of lunacy is it that we'd allow something so key to be down for so long? How about that same type of thing for electricity: Yeah, we know you haven't had power for 3 months now, but, we had some parts issues and it'll be another 4 months. Oh, yeah, btw, the cost of your electricity is going up by 15% in perpetutum...special blend of electricity and all...

It is kind of hard to blame them when we refuse to let them build new ones that would solve the problem.

And if we don't get our game faces on concerning electricity we will eventually see similar problems with that too. Our electrical infrastructure is old as hell and falling a part, hell a tree branch took out most of the NE's electricity not long ago.

 

[chucky2]

I can blame them just fine if it's a fire that smoked some equipment months ago and they're still not operational. That's a BS excuse. What that tells me is they're fine with Millions of people paying jacked up prices because they don't want to move fast enough.

That's not acceptable, not when you're talking about a critical national resource, which fuel is arguably the most important - back and forth with electricity.

As far as electricity, I agree completely with you.

Chuck

 

[blackangst1]

I always wear a full coverage helmet with a shield, but the world still looks better and more real to me on a bike, AND I get almost 50 MPG (650cc Ninja.)

I only get about 38MPG on my FJR. But then, I ride it like I stole it too.

And, even though Im in Phoenix, I also ride ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time)(even in summer). But I agree about the world looking better. As the saying goes, 4 wheels moves the body, 2 wheels moves the soul.

 

[hal2kilo]

Problem with refineries is no one wants them around them. Same with nuclear.

Yep, I bet even your local ATPN conservative wouldn't live near a refinery atleast.

 

[SolidSnake42]

To be honest, I'd laugh my ass off if everyone switched to electric cars just to see the oil companies pay. Regulations are shit and the oil companies can pretty much get away with murder. For some fucked up reason, banks and oil companies can't do wrong, and it's fucking sickening.