Alaska oil field shut down

[Lindaloo]

Correct george. We pay heavy fuel tax AND we pay taxes at the pumps. Helen has no idea what this means to us who actually do have to use gas and fuel for work. She sells candles or body bath stuff, right Helen?

[Stephanie]

Yep. Like greed.

What is greedy about a sub-10% profit margin?

like i said glatum, rage and irratiionality wont allow them to see. i ask again, do any business owners here sell their goods and services at "cost"?

2-if anyone can devise a plan where gas can be sold cheaper than the oil companies do, please post it here

3-if the oil companies made no profit on a gallon of gas, the price would drop a whopping 8 cent

4-i have not heard a single peep in any posts that people are upset that govt, which does squat to produce gas for us to use, steps in and charges 5-10 times as much in tax than the oil co's make in profit. why is no one upset at the govt making a windfall profit on all of us?

Now I think you're getting off topic again Helen. I did send you a warning not too long ago.

Do YOU have a solution for #2??? I'd LOVE to hear this one.

[Lindaloo]

I agree Steph. Was wondering if she was going to explain #2.

[rainstorm]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

[george_r_1961]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

Ok Helen

[rainstorm]

Guys this sort of thing happens every week in the oil and gas business, their are thousands of miles of pipeline with gas flowing just in the Gulf of Mexico. Preventative maintence for corrosive pipeline is done all the time and we do not see an increase in gas prices at those times. We all know that the price of gas was expected to go up even higher before the end of this year. Well its happening and will continue to happen. Hopefully not to much higher!!!!!!

exactly

[george_r_1961]

Correct george. We pay heavy fuel tax AND we pay taxes at the pumps. Helen has no idea what this means to us who actually do have to use gas and fuel for work. She sells candles or body bath stuff, right Helen?

and i do as good at my job than anyone does at thiers. no need for personal attacks. i would love for the price of gas to be $1.50 a gallon. how is that going to happen?

No one attacked you. We were merely pointing out that in your line of work the price of gas doesnt matter as much as it does to many of us whose income depends on gas staying at a reasonable price.

[Lindaloo]

How is asking a question a personal attack? LOL!! But yeah, I am glad you got it george.


I would love to believe that Bre. The price of gas was actually coming down. Then it started going back up. The main concern is the stock market. I have not checked it today.

[rainstorm]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

Ok Helen

the oil companies are doing a great job. if they went out of business and the govt were put in charge of doing what the oil companies do, good luck even finding a gallon of gas to buy

[Lindaloo]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

Well, did you know that auto makers have a design that can actually give an SUV way better fuel mileage? The oil companies pitched a fit. I believe the auto industry and the oil companies work together. I have no proof of that and is just my thoughts on it. I remember seeing that about the design on a documentary before all the gas prices started rising. I will do a search online when I get to work in the morning.

[george_r_1961]

Helen u stated earlier that even if the oil companies made no profit gas would only be 8 cents a gallon cheaper. I asked for a source..and im still waiting.

[rainstorm]

Correct george. We pay heavy fuel tax AND we pay taxes at the pumps. Helen has no idea what this means to us who actually do have to use gas and fuel for work. She sells candles or body bath stuff, right Helen?

and i do as good at my job than anyone does at thiers. no need for personal attacks. i would love for the price of gas to be $1.50 a gallon. how is that going to happen?

No one attacked you. We were merely pointing out that in your line of work the price of gas doesnt matter as much as it does to many of us whose income depends on gas staying at a reasonable price.

but what is a "reasonable" price?
here are 2 ideas
1-the govt could put price controls on gas
2-the govt could confiscate every cent of profit the oil co's make

in both cases the results would be disastrous. you see, i think the price per gallon is reasonable and i dont think anyone can come up with a way to make it more"reasonable". we can all think bp is in some conspiracy because they have decided to repair a pipeline, i dont.

[george_r_1961]

Helen I asked for a source for your previous claim.

[rainstorm]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

Well, did you know that auto makers have a design that can actually give an SUV way better fuel mileage? The oil companies pitched a fit. I believe the auto industry and the oil companies work together. I have no proof of that and is just my thoughts on it. I remember seeing that about the design on a documentary before all the gas prices started rising. I will do a search online when I get to work in the morning.

the free market is a great thing, and if someone makes a product that will make money for a company they will sell it. here is one thing i know. the oil companies have been investigated by congress at least 38 times. by democrat congress's and by republican congress's. my guess is any business that was investigated that many times would be in alot more trouble than the oil companies are. i think its great if they can make cars that get better mileage. if they think the public will but it, they will produce it.

[george_r_1961]

You can tell me the oil companies have been investigated "at least 38 times"(BTW I would like a source for that as well please ) but again you refuse to provide us with a source for your claim of gas only being 8 cents a gallon cheaper if there was no profit.

[gtalum]

Here's a source:

HOUSTON, Jan. 30 — Exxon Mobil, the nation's largest energy company, today reported a 27 percent surge in profits for the fourth quarter as elevated fuel prices gave rise to the most lucrative year ever for an American company, with profits in 2005 reaching $36.13 billion and revenue $371 billion.

$36.13 Billion in profits on $371 Billion in revenue represents a profit margin of 9.8%. So at $3.00 per gallon, Exxon would make $0.29 in profit per gallon. So the number is higher than rainstorm claimed, but it's still not a big margin. Then you have to remember that Exxon doesn't actually get $3.00 per gallon. They wholesale it to gas station owners for somewhat less. So their actual profit is probably something like $0.25 per gallon.

[Lindaloo]

So much for preventative maintenance. BP was forced to to inspect for corrosion by the US Transportation Dept. because of the spill of 270,000 gallons in March of this year. The Dept. of transportation has launched a criminal investigation of the first spill. So, no, they did not do this on their on. They were told to do it.

gtalum, your numbers are wrong too. They expect to lose up to 400,000 gallons PER DAY. End result will be 6.4 million in lost revenue, royalties and taxes. Alaska will suffer the most.

[gtalum]

but its not the power plants getting near population centers, its the pop centers getting near the power plants, so you build a nuclear plant, you need people to go there and work, so they live nearby, then they need food and gas, so then people start building gas stations and food stores, which in turn offers more jobs, then along comes Wal-Mart...well we know where it goes from there...

We're talking about putting power plants in people's backyards. I have no concern for people who choose to move into a power plant's back yard.

They're not pretty to look at, but there is nothing inherently unsafe in having a nuclear power plant nearby. That was my point.

[Lindaloo]

# 2 is simple. the answer is none of us can figure out how gas can be sold any cheaper than it already is. the oil companies do a great job

Well, did you know that auto makers have a design that can actually give an SUV way better fuel mileage? The oil companies pitched a fit. I believe the auto industry and the oil companies work together. I have no proof of that and is just my thoughts on it. I remember seeing that about the design on a documentary before all the gas prices started rising. I will do a search online when I get to work in the morning.

the free market is a great thing, and if someone makes a product that will make money for a company they will sell it. here is one thing i know. the oil companies have been investigated by congress at least 38 times. by democrat congress's and by republican congress's. my guess is any business that was investigated that many times would be in alot more trouble than the oil companies are. i think its great if they can make cars that get better mileage. if they think the public will but it, they will produce it.

Your reply is nothing but well, I do not know what. Bring up anything political again and you are out of here.

[gtalum]

If oil hits $80 a barrel over this Alaska pipeline fiasco the price of regular gas will increase to about $4 a gallon.

How do you figure? Oil is now over $76 per barrel. $80 per barrel is only about a 5% increase. That same increase carried through to the price of gasoline brings the average price of gas to around $3.15-$3.20.