Why are oil companies allowed to get away with this?

[Aimster]

For gas to be $3.00/Gallon I believe OPEC has to sell oil at $90/barrel.

Have you looked at the market cap of exxon/mobil? It's around $450billion which makes it the largest company in the world.

$450 billion!!!!

Why is the government not doing anything?

 

[nakedfrog]

I understand the FTC/GAO are looking into it.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Thank you for bringing this rarely-discussed topic to our attention.

 

[SVT Cobra]

OPMG STOP

 

[PingSpike]

The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

 

[Rogue]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

True, but gas isn't like an overpriced TV. Gasoline is something that is more or less required in our society. It's not a luxury item (yet) like a TV is. Hard to vote with your dollars when gas equals money for the people that purchase it.

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: Rogue

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

True, but gas isn't like an overpriced TV. Gasoline is something that is more or less required in our society. It's not a luxury item (yet) like a TV is. Hard to vote with your dollars when gas equals money for the people that purchase it.

Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Rogue

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

True, but gas isn't like an overpriced TV. Gasoline is something that is more or less required in our society. It's not a luxury item (yet) like a TV is. Hard to vote with your dollars when gas equals money for the people that purchase it.

There are alternatives. People can ride bikes, use diesel fuel, use french fry grease, complain to their legislators for alternate fuel production. Its just not worth it for people to use them yet, so they continue to pay.

Same thing as microsoft, everyone b|tches about the price of windows...but they keep buying it. Because ultimately, thats what its worth on the free market. Sure linux is free, but most people won't use it.

I'm hoping serious competitor to oil comes onto the market in response to this.

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

We are capitalist but we are not Lazie Faire (yeah i probably butchered the spelling), there are some rules that the gas companies are openly violating.

 

[FoBoT]

"allowed"


so you want to nationalize the oil companies like Venezuela ? you are a communist?

 

[Tommunist]

Originally posted by: venk
Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

i said the same thing - then prices dipped a little bit when bush went into office and the others laughed. now no one is laughing except those making all the cash.

 

[ElFenix]

well lets see...
first, exxon is not just a refiner, they're also an O&G lease owner, which means that they make money when they pull the gasoline out of the ground and sell it to the refiner. most of the wells they have were probably operating, and profitable, 3 years ago when oil was $30. at $68, that oil is $38 more profitable than it was at $30.

when oil was $12 a barrel gasoline was $0.75. at $66 a barrel gas is $2.90. at $30 a barrel it was about $1.50.
so the price of a barrel has gone up 5.5 times, and yet the price of gas has only gone up 3.8 times. and in the other case, more than double the price of oil is only double the price of gas. yeah, the refiners are really gouging. :roll:

 

[HardcoreRobot]

free market

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: Rogue

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

True, but gas isn't like an overpriced TV. Gasoline is something that is more or less required in our society. It's not a luxury item (yet) like a TV is. Hard to vote with your dollars when gas equals money for the people that purchase it.

Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

i said you were paranoid and stupid. i stand by those comments.

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
"allowed"


so you want to nationalize the oil companies like Venezuela ? you are a communist?

LOL. I find it hilarious that people are throwing around the word communist so liberally when half don't even really understand what it means.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: venk
Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

do you have any proof at all that there is a cartel of oil companies and that they are price fixing? or are you just making wild accusations because you think the price of a gallon is too high? have you seen the price of a barrel of oil? have you seen the price of a dollar compared to a euro?

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: venk
Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

do you have any proof at all that there is a cartel of oil companies and that they are price fixing? or are you just making wild accusations because you think the price of a gallon is too high? have you seen the price of a barrel of oil? have you seen the price of a dollar compared to a euro?

If you don't think there is serious price fixing going on with the Big Oil than you have not been paying much attention. 66 cent price increase and 61 cent increase in pure profit does not occur without price fixing.

 

[robphelan]

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: venk
Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

do you have any proof at all that there is a cartel of oil companies and that they are price fixing? or are you just making wild accusations because you think the price of a gallon is too high? have you seen the price of a barrel of oil? have you seen the price of a dollar compared to a euro?

If you don't think there is serious price fixing going on with the Big Oil than you have not been paying much attention. 66 cent price increase and 61 cent increase in pure profit does not occur without price fixing.

facts to back up?

 

[Rogue]

I don't know about the oil companies doing it, but the media hasn't helped in the least. I remember when here in Kansas our gas prices were alway at or below the national average. My mother who lives in Washington state has always paid more for gas than us and now our prices are roughly equal (give or take a few cents one way or the other). It's my belief that the media has publicized gas prices across the nation so much that area that used to charge less now charge more to keep up with what the big cities are paying and now they have a wider profit margin. I don't know if the profit increase goes to the retailer, the wholesaler, the distributor or what, but my gas prices here in Kansas used to be a good thirty or forty cents lower than my mother, now we're within five to ten cents of eachother all the time. It just seems odd to me.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: FoBoT
"allowed"


so you want to nationalize the oil companies like Venezuela ? you are a communist?

LOL. I find it hilarious that people are throwing around the word communist so liberally when half don't even really understand what it means.

yeah, i should have called someone a nazi

 

[Softballslug]

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: Rogue

Originally posted by: PingSpike
The government isn't doing anything because we're a capitalist country, not a communist one.

True, but gas isn't like an overpriced TV. Gasoline is something that is more or less required in our society. It's not a luxury item (yet) like a TV is. Hard to vote with your dollars when gas equals money for the people that purchase it.

Because the Oil Companies paid for Bush's Presidenacy so he overlooks their Cartel and Price setting scams (which are illegal in the US).

Funny, I said this would happen in 1999 but everyone said I was crazy.

THE GAS COMPANIES HAVE PAID OFF EVERY POLITIION, NOT JUST BUSH!!!!!!!

 

[FoBoT]

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/n/na/nationalization.htm


there is an association between communist revolutions and nationalization of resources including oil. i am not a nitwit

A key issue in nationalization is whether the private owner is properly compensated for the value of the institution. The most controversial nationalizations are those where no compensation is paid or an amount unreasonably below the likely market rate ( (Taking out of an owner's hands (especially taking property by public authority)) expropriation). Many nationalizations through expropriation have come after (The overthrow of a government by those who are governed) revolutions, especially (A socialist who advocates communism) communist ones.

 

[MaDDinGO]

Originally posted by: Aimster
For gas to be $3.00/Gallon I believe OPEC has to sell oil at $90/barrel.

Have you looked at the market cap of exxon/mobil? It's around $450billion which makes it the largest company in the world.

$450 billion!!!!

Why is the government not doing anything?

Keep in mind that taxes play a big role in gas price - in NY, Federal tax is over 60 cents a gallon, theres also a state tax on gas too

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: MaDDinGO

Originally posted by: Aimster
For gas to be $3.00/Gallon I believe OPEC has to sell oil at $90/barrel.

Have you looked at the market cap of exxon/mobil? It's around $450billion which makes it the largest company in the world.

$450 billion!!!!

Why is the government not doing anything?

Keep in mind that taxes play a big role in gas price - in NY, Federal tax is over 60 cents a gallon, theres also a state tax on gas too

Yep. A big reason why Georgia gas prices are so low right now (relatively) is that they suspended state gas taxes through September.

 

[PingSpike]

What happens when the government fixes the price of a limited commodity, such as gasoline, in the face of increasing demand?

Because controls prevent the price system from rationing the supply to those who demand it, some other mechanism will take its place. A queue or lineup, once a familiar sight in the controlled economies of Eastern Europe, is one possibility. When the U.S. government set maximum prices for gasoline in 1973 and 1979, dealers sold gas on a first-come-first-served basis, and drivers got a little taste of what life was like for people in the Soviet Union: they had to wait in long lines to buy gas. The true price of gas, which included both the cash paid and the time spent waiting in line, was often higher than if prices were not controlled at all. At one time in 1979, for example, the U.S. government fixed the price of gasoline at about $1.00 per gallon. If the market price would have been $1.20, a driver who bought ten gallons apparently saved $.20 per gallon, or $2.00. But if the driver had to line up for thirty minutes to buy gas, and if her time was worth $8.00 per hour, the real cost to her was $10.00 for the gas and $4.00 for the time, an overall cost of $1.40 per gallon. Some gas, of course, was held for friends, long-time customers, the politically well-connected, or those who were willing to pay a little cash on the side.

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PriceControls.html