cheapseats

Exactly so. If yer makin' money doin' what yer doin'...the way yer doin' it...why would a feller do it diffrent? That'd be fixin' what ain't busted.

And, as you point out, they can snap up whichever egghead's company or process, once that pesky innovation part is settled.

PLUS, they stand advised...it doesn't matter who's sayin' what behind closed doors, they have practical proof...that we will bail them out if their calculated gamble doesn't pan out.

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Heretic

They pay more per volume, true, but they still spend far less than we did even eight years ago. The reason is as I explained [and you ignored] that they drive a tenth the distances we do.

I doubt anyone making less than $40,000 a year doesn't feel squeezed by fuel costs. And truck drivers [those automotive blood cells in America's freeway circulatory system] are being driven into bankruptcy by it.

This again assumes there will be a reform of city/suburb/rural planning that the oil and car companies won't fight tooth, nail and prison shank against. Maybe Gandalf can pull it off.

The price hikes have already sunk in.

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OldManOnFire

Well...if you can find some information that directly challenges the information from the CA website, then by-golly we can have a conversation. Until then, it is the most accurate information I know about.

Once again if you can provide any information whatsoever that can show that government can dictate oil and gasoline prices, then bring it on so we can talk. Until then, I say it's a free enterprise system based on supply and demand.

And once again...if you have some information that provides factual information that the oil companies are in collusion, or price fixing, or anything, then let's see it so we can talk.


It is quite reasonable and logical to read the information I provided you, along with anything else you wish to read from that website, and then evaluate that information with any conflicting data you might have, then decide what is accurate or the truth. I have not seen any conflicting data to that website so I believe it to be quite accurate. If you have some facts or data to share, this would be great...

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OldManOnFire

How can Exxon lower prices??

Crude oil cost in one gallon of gasoline today is $2.83

Federal, state and local taxes in one gallon of gasoline is about $.60

The refineries and dealers add about $.55 to $.60 per gallon.


OPEC primarily controls crude oil cost and others follow them so this is out of our control.

Federal, state and local taxes can be changed but to do so will hurt those budgets.

Perhaps the refineries and/or the gas stations can lower their cost and profit margins, but I'm guessing both refinery and dealer costs are somewhat fixed.


When crude oil was $20 barrel, this only added $.48 to each gallon of gasoline, plus 60 cents tax and 60 cents refinery/dealer which equaled $1.68 per gallon.

So in my opinion, the bulk of the problem with gasoline prices is in the cost of the crude oil...

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Malkavian

I didn't ignore it, i proposed better urban planning...

A lot of people feel squeezed, but that's a good thing... That's the only realistic way to push fuel efficiency forward.

If there's no reform, we are screwed. As in dead. Those truck drivers you mentioned earlier haul our food. If distributor businesses do not overhaul their supply chains and we as residents/consumers don't change urban planning, we'll simply run out of affordable food and starve to death.
I hope so... so that the next time Joe Sixpack goes shopping for a car, he'll buy a hybrid instead of a pick up truck...

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Malkavian

Well, they have what? like 15% profit margins... So technically, they could drop the price of gas 10c or so...

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Rigged

Really? I thought it was somewhere around 5-8% profit margin...hmm thats interesting, I was always under the assumption that it was lower. Maybe I'm thinking of BP...

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Malkavian

It's 11.23% for Exxon. We split the middle.

I was just guessing, but i know they are a commodity business, so it can't be much higher than 15%.... Spec Chem has higher margins, high tech MUCH higher.

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OldManOnFire

Exxon-Mobil:

Sales 404.55 Bil
Income 40.61 Bil
Net Profit Margin 10.04%

Taken from Exxon-Mobil website:

Factors in fuel pricing

Fuel prices are impacted by a number of factors, including changes in the price of crude oil, supply and demand, change in fuel specifications, government regulations, taxes, and transportation costs. Actual or perceived changes in these fundamentals, such as those caused by geopolitical uncertainty, can have an impact on commodity markets. Therefore, it's important to recognize that a number of factors may combine to impact transportation fuel prices at any given time.

Historically, the price of all petroleum products has fluctuated as these factors change. More specifically with regard to motor gasoline:

Crude prices are set globally and crude oil demand is growing at its fastest pace in over a decade, driven in part by significant economic growth in developing countries and in the U.S. Since the U.S. demand for oil exceeds domestic production, refineries must compete in the world market for a share of both the world's available crude and, increasingly, refined products such as gasoline. The Department of Energy forecasts that U.S. demand will continue to grow at an average of 1.2% throughout 2008.

U.S. refiners must now produce and deliver to separate markets more than 20 specialized types of gasoline in order to comply with Federal Clean Air Act requirements. This can present logistical challenges and increased costs through reduced economies of scale and limits on refining and distribution system flexibility. Specification changes that began in 2006 and continue in 2007 include the phase in of ultra-low sulfur diesel for non-highway use. This and the phase in of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard requirements affect the amount of gasoline that can be produced in the U.S. and potentially the availability of refined product imports, adding further challenges to the supply chain.

Global supply and demand for crude oil and petroleum products has the biggest influence on the price of gasoline at the pump in the U.S.

Crude oil is the major component in the price of gasoline. For November 2007, the cost of crude oil made up around two-thirds of the cost of every gallon of gasoline.
Nineteen percent of recent gasoline prices were for refining, transportation and marketing. State and federal taxes accounted for about 13 percent of the price.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry — yet we produce only 3 percent of the world's oil and 2 percent of the world's energy.

The best I can tell is Exxon produced approximately 60 billion gallons of gasoline in the last year. 60 billion (x) a dime (=) $6 billion which would drop them down to a net profit margin of 8.4%. This $6 billion would come out of their research and development expenses or out of the pockets of shareholders.

The dime reduction from Exxon would be a moot point since the moment crude increases by another $4.20 per barrel that dime is history...

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Did you know both our problems and the solutions can be found simply by looking in our mirrors...and...Never confuse the extraordinary stuff I think and write with that of a well-balanced person...

Malkavian

Lol... no arguments from me.. At the rate we are printing money, that 10c price break won't last a week...

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