Why is no one whining about gas prices anymore?

[LevelSea]

 

[Imp]

It's your gas.

 

[mizzou]

I've noticed I just don't care anymore. I'm so burned out on complaining about it, there is literally nothing I can do about it other then changing my driving habits and buying a fuel efficient vehicle.

Gas companies did this on purpose, to just shock us so many times, we are now like beaten puppies...thanking them for the expensive gasoline.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Getting gasoline or diesel to the point where you just slide your credit card at the pump and let the magic happen is a ton of work and money. Be glad you're not paying double what you are now.

 

[mizzou]

Getting gasoline or diesel to the point where you just slide your credit card at the pump and let the magic happen is a ton of work and money. Be glad you're not paying double what you are now.

it's not that complicated that we should be thankful we are getting raped for $4.00 a gallon.

All you have to do is pump the shit out of the ground, refine it, and deliver it to a gas station.

Seeing how decade old vehicles still use the same product...I find it hard to believe that there is any magic going on whatsoever in this market.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

it's not that complicated that we should be thankful we are getting raped for $4.00 a gallon.

All you have to do is pump the shit out of the ground, refine it, and deliver it to a gas station.

Seeing how decade old vehicles still use the same product...I find it hard to believe that there is any magic going on whatsoever in this market.

Not complicated? Fine. Buy your own 100 million dollar rig, haggle with landowners and various cities/states/epa for the right to use said drilling rig, locate area that has oil or gas, be prepared to lose millions just in case you don't hit anything, once the hole is drilled cement the outside of the mile long hole, run pipe down said whole afterwards, frac it (fracking is a whole lot of work alone), be prepared for the thousands of barrels of saltwater that comes out of the ground (usually involves up to 15 trucks running 24/7), dispose of said water, etc... I'm sure I've skipped a few steps just in drilling alone. We haven't even mentioned refining.

 

[lothar]

Why is no one whining about gas prices anymore?

Because Dave McOwen has been banned/vacationed from the forums?

 

[lxskllr]

Not complicated? Fine. Buy your own 100 million dollar rig, haggle with landowners and various cities/states/epa for the right to use said drilling rig, locate area that has oil or gas, be prepared to lose millions just in case you don't hit anything, once the hole is drilled cement the outside of the mile long hole, run pipe down said whole afterwards, frac it (fracking is a whole lot of work alone), be prepared for the thousands of barrels of saltwater that comes out of the ground (usually involves up to 15 trucks running 24/7), dispose of said water, etc... I'm sure I've skipped a few steps just in drilling alone. We haven't even mentioned refining.

It's a small miracle gas is as cheap as it is. The problem is the real cost is hidden. You pay a cheap price at the pump(really), and pay more in increased health costs, and cleanup on the back end.

 

[Svnla]

$3.47/gal for regular at Shell. I can get it down to $3.37/gal if I use the Kroger points.

 

[PliotronX]

Because now that the weather is warmer I get to ride my 650cc which takes its time with the gas rather than guzzle it down 8)

 

[raasco]

!give

 

[Pardus]

3.80 today, sigh

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by amdhunter
Why is no one whining about gas prices anymore?

Because Dave McOwen has been banned/vacationed from the forums?

Where was I for this?

 

[schmuckley]

Because they've become complacent.
It was in this century that gas was $1.37
If people would grow a pair and all get together and not drive/buy gas for 1 day or two..the prices would drop like a rock.
Also petition Congress and the senate to lower fed/state gas taxes;of which 85% of the revenue goes to total waste. ("pork-barrel projects")
For almost a century,Diesel was about 1/2 the price of gas.

 

[Ns1]

If people would grow a pair and all get together and not drive/buy gas for 1 day or two..the prices would drop like a rock.

lol

 

[mizzou]

Not complicated? Fine. Buy your own 100 million dollar rig, haggle with landowners and various cities/states/epa for the right to use said drilling rig, locate area that has oil or gas, be prepared to lose millions just in case you don't hit anything, once the hole is drilled cement the outside of the mile long hole, run pipe down said whole afterwards, frac it (fracking is a whole lot of work alone), be prepared for the thousands of barrels of saltwater that comes out of the ground (usually involves up to 15 trucks running 24/7), dispose of said water, etc... I'm sure I've skipped a few steps just in drilling alone. We haven't even mentioned refining.

Equipment and planning. I'm not filling my vehicle with neuroscience and unicorn dreams. All you do is extract something which already exists. The only reason it's expensive, it's because it's difficult to extract.

Drilling for oil is no more a miracle then milk coming out of a cow or corn growing from the ground. Easy? No. Expensive? Yes. Difficult? Yes. A miracle? No way.

The cost of drilling should be coldly calculable. You know how much equipment costs, you know how much you are in the process of pumping, and you know how much you have to sell it for to make a profit.

What we pay at the gas stations, does not accurately reflect the cost to extract oil and refine gasoline.

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=367&t=6



From what I remember reading ages ago, crude oil companies take the lion share of the profits. Profits are not made at the refinery and certainly not at the gas station. Look at quicktrip, where they make most of their money as a convenience store.

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=22&t=6

 

[Ns1]

Drilling for oil is no more a miracle then milk coming out of a cow or corn growing from the ground. Easy? No. Expensive? Yes. Difficult? Yes. A miracle? No way.

 

[OutHouse]

it cost me about 55 bucks a week to keep my camry gassed up. I cant fathom how people who drive pickups as a daily commuter can afford it or not cry when they drop 80-100 bucks a week in gas or diesel

 

[mizzou]

if people say "Oh it's a miracle we don't pay $1,000.00 per gallon for gas" it's ridiculous", it's a line of bullshit.

There are major profits to be made on oil and they ARE made, every day. It's not a miracle we pay $3.75 or $4.00 a gallon, it's market economics. We pay that because that's what it's worth and how much we are willing to pay for it...nothing more...nothing less.

 

[Ns1]

if people say "Oh it's a miracle we don't pay $1,000.00 per gallon for gas" it's ridiculous", it's a line of bullshit.

There are major profits to be made on oil and they ARE made, every day. It's not a miracle we pay $3.75 or $4.00 a gallon, it's market economics. We pay that because that's what it's worth and how much we are willing to pay for it...nothing more...nothing less.

I just can't fathom how you can compare this:

to this:

or this:

 

[mizzou]

I just can't fathom how you can compare this:

A product exists and you extract it. You calculate the costs of extraction + everything else, and try to sell it at a reasonable price to make a profit.

One you can do with your hands, the other you need heavy machinery.

Let me be clear with this since there appears to be an issue with me showing my thoughts via written form:

Topic -$3.75 /g at the pump for gas is a miracle.

My point: It's not a miracle, we are paying what we are supposed to be paying.

 

[lothar]

Where was I for this?

I figured that you were since I haven't seen you post in a while.
I see that you've been posting in P&N lately...I haven't been there in a while so that explains it.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

A product exists and you extract it. You calculate the costs of extraction + everything else, and try to sell it at a reasonable price to make a profit.

One you can do with your hands, the other you need heavy machinery.

Let me be clear with this since there appears to be an issue with me showing my thoughts via written form:

Topic -$3.75 /g at the pump for gas is a miracle.

My point: It's not a miracle, we are paying what we are supposed to be paying.

Agreed that the market price of gas is the "correct" value because it is what the market will bear. In 2008 people revolted against gas prices by driving less, carpooling, etc., and prices plunged. Why? Because demand plunged.

That said, the point other posters are making is that you are greatly over simplifying the oil extraction, refining, and distribution process. You are also ignoring the fact that there is a great deal of uncertainty in drilling. Tools are better now, but to this day it is uncertain whether a drill will hit anything until millions are spent. Lots of sunk costs if it does not. Its not like milking a cow. 99.9% of dairy cows product milk. Far less oil wells produce oil.

You might be shocked that many oil drilling companies are more water companies than they are oil companies. As oil is extracted the production of a well diminishes, until the well ultimately needs to be pressured to enhance extraction. That's been done with water for years. Pretty soon it will be done with CO2. Expensive, expensive, expensive.

That said I see your point that the market price of gas is what it "should" be. But it is pretty hard not to marvel at the fact that a product that is enormously expensive and difficult to extract can be purchased in refined form for as little as $4/gallon. The only way that happens is volume and market pressure. Mainly volume as gas is for the most part an inelastic commodity.

 

[WHAMPOM]

WTF? $4.39 for Premium in my area. WTF is going on? Dammit.
Regular was $4.19.

Seriously -- WTF is causing the spike? Did someone in Iraq sneeze today?

Frog in a slowly heating pot syndrome?

 

[Stewox]

OP: Because this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drn7LaKoeaQ

People born into something take it as normal.