Brant you are absolutly right .....................pointing fingers will only point blame away from us the users

bottom line is we here in the USA and Canada are very spoiled and we use as much oil as we want to................dont matter just make more..in reality there is only so much of it out there and when demand increases so does cost

ya know I remember when I pumped fuel for as little as 38 cents a galon and it was expensive then and is expensive now at 3 plus a gallon....we still pay it though

yaknow the USA usea more oil that the next 14 countrys combined.....we are pigs ....you mee and everyone around us..............whats the problem with that???? nuttin just pay the price , I can bitch about the price as much as the next guy but I still waste fuel just cuz can

I know supply and demand aint the only driver here cuz there is a few other zinngers in there to assist the rediculous prices .........I dont even want to get into politics cuz it aint worth it ....to me

all I know is I was handed lemmons so I am making lemon aid and doin just fine off it too.............

invest in oil and gas and get rich....I am

 

Something I have been wondering about. Has the US more than doubled its consumption of crude in just the last 6 years since 9/11? And if so WHY? I doubt there are double the cars and trucks on the roads now. So where is all that EXTRA fuel going? The refineries have had the oppurtunity to expand all along but chose not to and now they are maxed out. I am not convinced there were no analysts and advisors that didnt see a continued increase in demand for crude oil. NO well managed business that plans to stay in business doesnt sit down and project future needs and demands on their products. Cause if they dont, they really have no way of ever knowing the markets they are selling to and being able to keep pace with it. Ask yourself this, are YOU getting paid anything near what the CEOs are of these companies, I bet not. And the HUGE salaries and bonuses they are getting is putting back in to the business how? Sure they do deserve a good respectable salary for their work but tell me how bad off they have it. My Great Uncle was the CEO of the second largest Utility Company in the US at one time and was on several Energy Advisory panels to the Presidents during Nixon and Reagans administrations. I am not saying that makes me an expert by any means, but I did learn from him things are not always as they seem when it comes to profits being put back in to the business.

And I have done several things in my way of living to decrease my familys need for fuel. We moved to the place we live now 2 days before 9/11 and the first thing I did was install an outdoor furnace to heat this place. So I have been heating with wood ever since and have cut our propane use down to around 200 gallons a year. And that is used just as back up incase the outdoor unit doesnt carry the whole heating load. Also I have cut my driving for work down from over 34,000 miles a year down to around 20,000. Since I do heat with wood and we do have livestock I need to have a truck. So when I was financially able to trade trucks last year I did. I sold my 98 Dodge 1500 4x4 Automatic with a 360 in it for the 98.5 Dodge 2500 4x4 CTD with a 5 speed manual tranny. The 360 I had would not run right unless I used premium in it and I got for the most part 10-12 mpg. Now I get on an average 17 mpg with the CTD and the cost of diesel currently is just below or right at the same as premium gas here. SO I do feel I have done a fair share to help lower MY usage of fuel. And I know I am not alone in that.

No one here has ever once blamed you or any of the workers who work in the oil industry or any other industry related. All I have ever tried to point out is dont believe everything the media tells us when it comes to pricing and so on. If you and your co workers are seeing good incomes thru this I wish you the best on that, I dont ever begrudge anyone a good income in life. But if you can look back about 10-12 years ago you will have to admit the economy was booming then and we did have fuel prices way below $1 a gallon. And now that fuel prices are 3-4x as high as then and the economy is edoing very poorly, I dont see how anyone can not see the effect higher fuel prices are having across the board in everyones lives. Example: Meat prices in the grocery, Hogs have been selling for around 35-40 cents a lb live weight, yet in the store we pay well over 6x as much for the meat. Slaughter Cattle prices are around the same as they were when we could buy steak for less than $5 a lb in the grocery. Why if the raw product price hasnt gone up at least 2x as well we are paying such high meat prices? Everyone I have talked with that operate a slaughter house has told me its all because of higher fuel costs.

When I write here I do so in a TOTALLY open discussion, I dont always agree with someones view point and I know they wont always agree with mine. So dont take what I say personal here cause its NOT meant to be directed that way. I am grateful we do have a steady supply of fuel and hard workers out there making sure we do. I just dont always feel the companies we work for are truly looking out for OUR best interests as a whole.

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One thing you mentioned, crude is 4x as high so by rights that means fuel goes up 4x as well. Ok I agree with the logic, but tell me then IF the raw material costs more and I ONLY raise the cost of the end product to meet that increase how then do I MAKE BIGGER profits? By what you are saying they should be making the SAME profit margins as they did when crude was 4x lower.

 

I agree -- and I and my family are slowly moving to do things such as I pointed out and you have done.. That just makes sense..

and the reason why they make more profit is because of Economies of Scale -- the more you make, the cheaper it becomes to make it to a certain point. That is what is happening now. It doesn't cost them any more to run a refinery at max than it does at 75% -- the equip is the same and the manpower still has to be there to man it if its running or not, so all the fixed costs are the same, but they are selling more product, even at higher prices, so the profits are larger... (very simplified version)

Look at satellite TV -- they signal goes out no matter what -- so the cost is the same -- but the more subscribers they add, the more they make.. kinda the same concept.

And believe me -- NO ONE saw this spike in oil prices comming... otherwise they would have jumped in front of it to make MORE $$$... I guarantee you the higher ups would prolly kill for more production right now... but at what cost? that those refineries go dark after the "boom" is over? That doesn't make much sense either...

I have no problem with people burning fuel, and I'm not sticking up totally for the Oil Industry... hell, I've stood on location all night long holding a flashlight for my dad while they were repiping a well.. I've lived in the industry all my life, but just recently started working for an Oil company.

I'm not trying to say anyone is better than anyone else -- and yes, I do think their salaries are high... but the CEO made a good point on a national news program..

The CEO's are responsible for a multi BILLION $$ business -- if they grow that business, they should be compensated... and if I were responsible for record million $$ profits, I think I should see some of that $$$ -- a % of his salary is just much larger than the same % of my salary.. and I by no means am raking in the $$$ - but it does pay the bills..

I just think there are so many things that could be done other than blaming people and trying to say its so and so's fault when we are the solution and if everyone did what you and your family did and what I am trying to do with my family, it would have a huge impact on this world... for the better!

 

I hear ya! now if only we could make our trucks run on that lemonade!!!!

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Lots of good points here, I'm in the unfortunate position where I have to drive 39K a year just to go to work. Luckily a guy I work with just agreed to carpool and I ride my motorcycle whenever I can.

as long as we all do what we can!

 

hahahaha, then the price of fruit would suck cause Florida had an early or late freeze! hehehehehe

 

I guess I should thank my lucky stars they haven't figured out how to make our trucks run on beer then!!

 

Skip the beer and go to the next evolution in the beer chain... (Why waste good beer in the truck?)

 

07 and the year end



Oil Finishes 2007 on a Quiet Note

Oil prices ended 2007 quietly, falling a little after a record-breaking year. Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 2 cents to settle at $95.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil reached a trading record of $99.29 on Nov. 21, and remains close to the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today.

Gasoline futures for January delivery rose 1.61 cents to settle at $2.4758 a gallon on Monday.

At the pump, gas prices rose 4.6 cents over the weekend to a national average of $3.046 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are following the lead of crude futures, which rose 8.6 percent in December.

 

Oil kicks off year by hitting $100

Violence in Nigeria, supply disruption in Mexico and the prospect of another drop in U.S. inventories and more rate cuts drive crude to triple digits.

January 2 2008: 4:23 PM EST

Oil prices topped $100 a barrel Wedesday as violence in Nigeria pushed an already nervous market over the triple digit mark.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices kicked off 2008 by hitting $100 a barrel for the first time Wednesday, with violence in oil-rich Nigeria, the prospect of more interest rate cuts, a halt in Mexican imports and talk of yet another drop in U.S. crude supplies contributing to the milestone.

U.S. crude for February delivery hit $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange just after noon ET. It slipped to settle up $3.64 at $99.62, a new end-of-day record. The previous trading record was $99.29, set Nov. 20, while the previous settlement record was $98.18, set Nov. 23.

Oil prices ended 2007 by gaining nearly 60 percent for the year, the largest jump this decade.

"This market is really gonna fly," Ira Eckstein, president of Area International Trading Corp, said from the NYMEX floor.

The White House ruled out opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to temporarily relieve prices, and instead called for more domestic production.

In Nigeria, bands of armed men on Tuesday invaded Port Harcourt, the center of the oil industry, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel, The Associated Press reported. Four policemen, three civilians and six attackers were killed. The Niger Delta Vigilante Movement claimed responsibility for the attack.

At 2.1 million barrels per day, Nigeria was the world's eighth-largest oil exporter in 2006, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

 

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