The rich get richer

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Corn

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 1999
6,389
29
91
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Genx87
Provided I can get water, food, and shelter.
Heat is an essential subset of shelter (depending on location). Thus, depending on location, oil is essential.

Never heard of the sun? How about wood heat?

Many times provided you are out of the elements you can do just fine without a source of heat.

btw arent most homes heated by natural gas?

I wonder how many igloos have forced air heat? :laugh: Strangely enough, where I live was settled by man long before petrolium was a common heat source.
 

borosp1

Senior member
Apr 12, 2003
509
496
136
Apparently you guys didnt read what I wrote. The oil companies are in colusion and they set retail gas prices which are not based on market prices of barrels of crude oil. They are price gauging the american consumer and are in the pockets of your republican president and vice president. If they were not Bush would have propoesed forcing gas statations and car manufactures to use Ethanol or other vegtable oils which are produced by soybeans and are a renewable resource.

"A study" by University of Wisconsin economist Don Nicholsto showed that at $3 a gallon gas should in turn result in a barrel of oil at $95+ on the open market.

"Historically, Nichols said, the markup between the price of a gallon of crude and a gallon of gasoline is about 85 to 90 cents a gallon, including refining, distribution and taxes. At $50 for a 44-gallon barrel of crude, he said, the pump price should be about $2 a gallon, a little more or less in some states depending on taxes. At $65 a barrel -- nearly identical to the price in Tuesday afternoon trading -- a gallon should be about $2.30. ... For gasoline to be $3 a gallon, he said, crude should be selling for about $95 a barrel."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5128 "
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Corn
Exxon's revenue for the period is $100 billion. Thier profit was $9.9 billion.

This represents a profit margin of less than 10%. This is hardly greed or gouging. Apple realizes nearly 50% on their ipod.

how can you compare oil to iPods?

Maybe the right thinks we should burn and melt down iPods for fuel??? :confused:
 

dirtboy

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,745
1
81
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: moshquerade
how can you compare oil to iPods?

Maybe the right thinks we should burn and melt down iPods for fuel??? :confused:

No, you're wrong. The right can afford fuel at any cost, remember?? So the right won't have to burn their Ipods.

That means poor people will have to burn their Ipods, but poor people can't afford Ipods as you say.

I think you screwed up your Kool Aid mix this morning. Seriously. I'm worried about you Dave. :(
 

Corn

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 1999
6,389
29
91
Originally posted by: borosp1
Apparently you guys didnt read what I wrote. The oil companies are in colusion and they set retail gas prices which are not based on market prices of barrels of crude oil. They are price gauging the american consumer and are in the pockets of your republican president and vice president. If they were not Bush would have propoesed forcing gas statations and car manufactures to use Ethanol or other vegtable oils which are produced by soybeans and are a renewable resource.

"A study" by University of Wisconsin economist Don Nicholsto showed that at $3 a gallon gas should in turn result in a barrel of oil at $95+ on the open market.

"Historically, Nichols said, the markup between the price of a gallon of crude and a gallon of gasoline is about 85 to 90 cents a gallon, including refining, distribution and taxes. At $50 for a 44-gallon barrel of crude, he said, the pump price should be about $2 a gallon, a little more or less in some states depending on taxes. At $65 a barrel -- nearly identical to the price in Tuesday afternoon trading -- a gallon should be about $2.30. ... For gasoline to be $3 a gallon, he said, crude should be selling for about $95 a barrel."

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5128 "

Today, gas is selling at ~$2.35/gallon, right where it should per your post. Text When the price of gas was at ~$2.80 here for regular unleaded, I believe the price of crude per barrel was > $75. So......?
 
Jun 27, 2005
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Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Corn
Exxon's revenue for the period is $100 billion. Thier profit was $9.9 billion.

This represents a profit margin of less than 10%. This is hardly greed or gouging. Apple realizes nearly 50% on their ipod.

how can you compare oil to iPods?

Maybe the right thinks we should burn and melt down iPods for fuel??? :confused:

What he's saying is that their margins are very low. The record profits aren't coming from them taking an unfair profit from their product. They are coming from record consumption rates. That and 9% of 60 is more than 9% of 30.

 

dirtboy

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,745
1
81
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Genx87
Lets take for instance the oil companie sell a product for a nice even price of 100 dollars. With their costs to market, refine, ship the product to market they end up making 9.92 dollars for every product the sell.

Their profit margin is ~10%.

Apple ships a product for 100 dollars and their cost to ship, refine, develope, and market they make 50 dollars for every product they sell.

Their profit margin is 50%.
let's just ignore that we are getting anally raped at the pump and the oil companies are getting record profits.

because we need to argue semantics.

We do need to discuss them when you are blatently misrepresenting the facts. When you do that, you appear uneducated and ignorant. If you like that, great, continue forth.

Otherwise, open your mind and try to understand profit margins. If you found out your company had a profit margin greater than 10%, will you quit because it is gouging your clients???
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,028
4,652
126
Originally posted by: Corn
Natural gas and oil are not the same thing! I bet that if I had no wood on my property that I could purchase some wood and have it delivered, I betcha I do!
The general "process" is the same. Heck, natural gas is a minor component of oil. If you live hundreds of miles from wood, how is that wood going to be delivered today without fuel?

By your logic: apples aren't essential, chicken isn't essential, flour isn't essential, any food that anyone lists isn't essential. Yet you need food.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,028
4,652
126
Originally posted by: borosp1
The oil companies are in colusion and they set retail gas prices which are not based on market prices of barrels of crude oil.
Gas refineries != oil drilling companies != gas retailers.

For example, 7-11 just reported a huge jump of profits due to high gas prices. 7-11 taked on a huge markup onto the gas and then profitted. Are you saying that 7-11 is an oil company that colluded to raise prices?

Heck, you posted a link that attempts to DISPROVE your own post! Haha! From your own link:
Whatever that is, it is not good economics or math. Gasoline prices are not determined by adding a fixed markup to costs, but by supply and demand in global commodity markets. Crude oil accounts for only 44 percent of the retail cost of gasoline. Most of the cost -- the so-called "markup" -- has been about evenly split between taxes, and the cost of refining, storing, marketing and distributing fuel. That "markup" certainly is not fixed at 85 to 90 cents a gallon (nearly half of which is taxes). Besides, there are 42 gallons in a barrel, not 44, so even Mr. Nichols' arithmetic is wrong.
Although even that rebuttal is incorrect. A barrel of oil has about 1/2 that volume of gasoline (but that volume can be adjusted with different refinery settings). So a typical barrel of oil nets you ~20 gallons of gas. And neither side mentioned what happened to the profits on the other ~22 gallons. What happened to tar prices, jet fuel prices, etc?
 

Corn

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 1999
6,389
29
91
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Corn
Natural gas and oil are not the same thing! I bet that if I had no wood on my property that I could purchase some wood and have it delivered, I betcha I do!
The general "process" is the same. Heck, natural gas is a minor component of oil. If you live hundreds of miles from wood, how is that wood going to be delivered today without fuel?

By your logic: apples aren't essential, chicken isn't essential, flour isn't essential, any food that anyone lists isn't essential. Yet you need food.

Why don't you tell me what part of the country is hundreds of miles away from wood. That would be a good start.......this discussion is getting ridiculous.

...and no, that is not my logic. You state that without oil, there would be no heat. Without apples, there would still be food. Sorry, try again.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,028
4,652
126
Originally posted by: Corn
Why don't you tell me what part of the country is hundreds of miles away from wood. That would be a good start.......this discussion is getting ridiculous.
Not in this country. There are other places in the world though. Just as the most extreme example, think of the Antartic research station. Without diesel (or similar) they wouldn't survive. I suppose shipload after shipload of wood could be continuously sailed by wind power down there through the roughest sailing weather in the world. ;) Their solar and windmill power doesn't function on many days due to weather events.
...and no, that is not my logic. You state that without oil, there would be no heat. Without apples, there would still be food.
I say when there isn't wood to burn and you need heat, that oil is often the only practical choice. In those situations, oil is essential. Yes, you could just move to a location where oil isn't essential. So would you die without oil? No. But you couldn't have the lifestyle you choose. So given those restraints, oil is essential to life.

 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
So.. profit == bad? :confused:
no, but oil is essential, so price gouging = bad.

If I dont get oil do I die?

Oil is a commodity, as such the market value plays a role in what the costs are at both the well and at the pump.

If people stopped driving tomorrow for 2 weeks you would see a large increase in oil supplies which wouold drive the cost of the product down.
oil is essential for living, yes. we could possibly go without it for awhile.

let's put it this way, if ALL oil was cut off, would your life be jeopardized at all?


I guess we wonder why the addiction continues in this country.

I consider things like water, food, shelter to be essential to living.
Now we have people lumping in oil as essential lmao.

Put the oil crack down for a second and think about what is really essential for survival.

Agreed. Water, food, shelter are essential to living.
Now, explain to me, how does the food get to the city? Does it walk?
Ahhhhh, everyone from the cities can walk out to the country and kill a cow, drag it back and roast it over a fire.

Crap. The straw roof is leaking. Better not use asphalt shingles on your shelter.
 

TNM93

Senior member
Aug 13, 2005
965
0
0
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
So.. profit == bad? :confused:
no, but oil is essential, so price gouging = bad.

If I dont get oil do I die?

Oil is a commodity, as such the market value plays a role in what the costs are at both the well and at the pump.

If people stopped driving tomorrow for 2 weeks you would see a large increase in oil supplies which wouold drive the cost of the product down.


No oil = economy grinds to a halt. Remember the 1970's oil crunch? The US reacted by creating a strategic oil reserve. Oil is essential.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Just to end this stupid debate...

Oil is not essential in the fact that the human body does not need it to survive. However to maintain a standard of living somewhere above Neanderthal man, the human race does depend on oil at this point in time.
 

imported_Aelius

Golden Member
Apr 25, 2004
1,988
0
0
What people don't realize is the increadible presure that exists to drive up profits to meet certain levels. Why?

Bonuses. The Executive need their multi million dollar bonuses. It's not something that exists in one company. It's everywhere and it's a problem.

There's a great PBS Frontline episode on this.
 

umbrella39

Lifer
Jun 11, 2004
13,816
1,126
126
Scratches head and wonders why some the conservative and liberal for that matter.. members on the board enjoy and defend getting screwed in the butt at the pumps? Is it inate with you to defend big oil? You would think that this topic is something that we could all agree on. Strange. So as I suspected during the big gas price hike in the aftermath of Katrina, they could have easily kept prices where they were (fixed) and still made record profits. When the lease on the van is up in February, we are buying a Ford Escape Hybrid. Heck only 35-40 mpg but every little bit counts. Why can't big oil take it on the chin for 1 week out of the year and help out like after Katrina.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
So.. profit == bad? :confused:
no, but oil is essential, so price gouging = bad.

If I dont get oil do I die?

Oil is a commodity, as such the market value plays a role in what the costs are at both the well and at the pump.

If people stopped driving tomorrow for 2 weeks you would see a large increase in oil supplies which wouold drive the cost of the product down.
oil is essential for living, yes. we could possibly go without it for awhile.

let's put it this way, if ALL oil was cut off, would your life be jeopardized at all?


I guess we wonder why the addiction continues in this country.

I consider things like water, food, shelter to be essential to living.
Now we have people lumping in oil as essential lmao.

Put the oil crack down for a second and think about what is really essential for survival.

Agreed. Water, food, shelter are essential to living.
Now, explain to me, how does the food get to the city? Does it walk?
Ahhhhh, everyone from the cities can walk out to the country and kill a cow, drag it back and roast it over a fire.

Crap. The straw roof is leaking. Better not use asphalt shingles on your shelter.

We transported everything fine via steam locomotives, time to back to that.

Elect me and Amtrack will be running nothing but Steam engines and I would ship cargo on it.

CSX and the rest would be forced to switch to steam in short order.

Watch the Oil Barons sh!t a brick.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
We transported everything fine via steam locomotives, time to back to that.

Elect me and Amtrack will be running nothing but Steam engines and I would ship cargo on it.

CSX and the rest would be forced to switch to steam in short order.

Watch the Oil Barons sh!t a brick.
Yeah, steam locomotives will save us a lot of oil. :roll:

How's that steam minivan working for you? What a moron.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
We transported everything fine via steam locomotives, time to back to that.

Elect me and Amtrack will be running nothing but Steam engines and I would ship cargo on it.

CSX and the rest would be forced to switch to steam in short order.

Watch the Oil Barons sh!t a brick.

Yeah, steam locomotives will save us a lot of oil.

How's that steam minivan working for you? What a moron.

Yes, they will.

If I could buy a Steam powered Mini-van I would've bought it yesterday.
 

dirtboy

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,745
1
81
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
We transported everything fine via steam locomotives, time to back to that.

Elect me and Amtrack will be running nothing but Steam engines and I would ship cargo on it.

CSX and the rest would be forced to switch to steam in short order.

Watch the Oil Barons sh!t a brick.

Yeah, steam locomotives will save us a lot of oil.

How's that steam minivan working for you? What a moron.

Yes, they will.

If I could buy a Steam powered Mini-van I would've bought it yesterday.

Hybrid's have been out for years and you've been saying how great they are. How many do you own? I forgot, you must be in bed with the Oil Barrons.
 

catnap1972

Platinum Member
Aug 10, 2000
2,607
0
76
Originally posted by: Stunt
I defend big oil...people's hate is totally misdirected...

Chaneling Stossel again? Lemme guess, if people can't afford $20 for a gallon of gas or oil, fsck em? :roll:

 

Specop 007

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
9,454
0
0
Its called capitalism. Dont like it? Start your own energy company.

Really, I fail to see the problem.
Firstly, oil is a WORLD commodity. It isnt like we (Amercia) are the only ones feeling the affects of this. Some places are getting hit FAR harder.
Secondly, as I said its capitalism. Would you prefer socialsim?
Thirdly, that posted profits of 10 billion on 100bil revenue. 10% profit doesnt sound unreasonable to me.
Fourthly, they have to make continual improvements/upgrades to "The System" to keep it running. THis isnt cheap.

And lastly, its capitalism. If you dont like it your not forced to use it. If you want a peice of the action you can buy into the compnay via stocks or start your own.