3 Ways to bring down gas prices

Subject: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:23 pm

Check this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOpcPfAarjY

afro

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:43 pm

So what did you think of Newt's commentary and this company that he's speeaking on behalf of?

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:59 pm

Sounds idiotic to me.... dump reserves to temporarily lower prices in order to punish speculators?

It's not speculators driving gas prices up...it's skyrocketing demand of a finite supply.

And if somebody wanted to "bet against the United States" watching them dump reserves which would have to be replaces at higher prices later would be a good place to start.

These are the guys who had "We will guarantee access to foreign oil" as a campaign plank.

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:02 pm

Oooops...wrong thread Embarassed

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:57 pm

The only way to bring down gas prices would be to either lower damand or raise supply or both. Since gasoline is made from petrolium, which is a non-renewable resource, supplies can't be expected to increase in the long term. Demand for energy, however, is virtually guarenteed to increase in the future. The only way we can reduce the demand for gasoline is to have alternatives availible (alternatives that are hopefully cheaper and more environmentally friendly than gasoline). People would love to see the days of cheep gasoline return, but if gasoline was cheap, there wouldn't be as much motivation to seek alternatives and most people would continue to burn it like there was no tomorrow and by doing so, they might very well eliminate their tomorrow.

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:10 pm

You're right Gordon.
Assuming that the alternative methods are not squashed by the oil companies, the fact that there is an alternative will decrease the demand for fossil fuels. Since it is not "convenient" to get and since it may even cost more initially, the switch to the alternatives is difficult to make.
Keep in mind that there is, and will continue to be, manipulation by the oil producers and suppliers. They will do whatever is required to keep people dependent on oil. As soon as there is a viable movement to alternatives, the supply of oil will increase and the prices will come down.
For most, it is like an addiction. It is hard to quit - break the habit of this dependence.

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:49 am

Abe,
I think you have hit the nail on the head. There is simply too much of a monopoly with giant oil producers both economically and politically to keep us all dependent on this liquid gold that is so vital for all energy needs.
The world's entire economic structure has been built on this 'backbone' if you like, of oil, and until an alternative source becomes "significant" in its availability, there's no easy way out from this habit unfortunately.

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:08 am

P. Gordon Kennedy wrote:: The only way to bring down gas prices would
be to either lower damand or raise supply or both. Since gasoline is
made from petrolium, which is a non-renewable resource, supplies can't
be expected to increase in the long term. Demand for energy, however,
is virtually guarenteed to increase in the future. The only way we can
reduce the demand for gasoline is to have alternatives availible
(alternatives that are hopefully cheaper and more environmentally
friendly than gasoline). People would love to see the days of cheep
gasoline return, but if gasoline was cheap, there wouldn't be as much
motivation to seek alternatives and most people would continue to burn
it like there was no tomorrow and by doing so, they might very well
eliminate their tomorrow.

If we're going to get cheep gasoline then are we going to recycle

Melopsittacus undulatus, or for those not familiar with the Latin
That's parakeets (or Budgies in England)

:pilot:I thought only budgies went, 'cheep!'

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:34 am

There is also the profiteers to think of who are driving all prices up but when people stop buying suddenly they lower them. The excuse to raise them was the price of oil which is still on the rise so how can they now lower them and still make the profits that they are. Simply they are only interested in getting the most out of the little man that they can. End excessive profit margins that would be a start in the right direction to helping many. Another thing would be to discourage the high debt some individuals seem to like to run up. Put pressure on banks and credit cards to stop them chasing people to get into debt.

Subject: From a descendant of Phillips Petroleum Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:01 am

Bill Phillips spent nearly 50 years in the US oil and gas industry; most of his
career was with the Phillips Petroleum Company. Bill is a descendant of Frank
Phillips. Frank Phillips, along with his brother Lee Eldas (L.E.) Phillips,
Sr., founded the original Phillips Petroleum Company in 1917 in Bartlesville,
OK. Do you remember Phillips 66 gas stations? Phillips Petroleum Company merged
with Conoco, Inc. in 2002 to form the current ConocoPhillips oil company.

As you prepare to cast your crucial ballots this Fall, please think long and
hard about the far-reaching, cumulative effects of the US political
philosophies, policies and legislation that have contributed to the current and
future US oil supply situation.

Did
you know that the United States does NOT have any big oil companies?
It's true: the largest American oil company, Exxon Mobil, is only the
14th largest in the world, and is dwarfed by the really big oil
companies--all owned by foreign governments or government-sponsored
monopolies--that dominate the world's oil supply.

With 94% of
the world's oil supply locked up by foreign governments, most of which
are hostile to the United States, the relatively puny American oil
companies
do not have access to enough crude oil to significantly affect the
market and help bring prices down. Thus, ExxonMobil, a "small" oil
company,
buys 90% of the crude oil that it refines for the U.S. market from the
big players, i.e, mostly-hostile foreign governments. The price at the
U.S. pump is rising because the price the big oil companies charge
ExxonMobil and the other small American companies for crude oil is
going up as the value of the American dollar goes down. They will
eventually bleed this country into printing even more money and we will
go into runway inflation once again as we did under the Carter
Democratic reign.

This is obviously a tough situation for the American consumer. The irony is
that
it doesn't have to be that way. The United States - unlike, say, France
- actually has vast petroleum reserves. It would be possible for
American oil companies to develop those reserves, play a far bigger
role in international markets and deliver gas at the pump to American
consumers at a much lower price, while creating many thousands of jobs
for Americans. This would be infinitely preferable to shipping endless
billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela to be used in
propping up their economies.

So, why doesn't it happen? Because
the government deliberately keeps gas prices high and our domestic oil
companies small by putting most of our reserves off limits to
development. China is now drilling in the Caribbean, off Cuba but our
own companies are barred by law from developing large oil fields off
the coasts of Florida and California. Enormous oil-shale deposits in
the Rocky Mountain states could go a long way toward supplying American
consumers' needs, but Congress won't allow those resources to be
developed. ANWR contains vast petroleum reserves, but we don't know how
vast, because Congress, not wanting the American people to know how
badly its policies are hurting our economy, has
made it illegal to explore and map those reserves, let alone develop them.

In short, all Americans are paying a terrible price for the governments
perverse
energy policies. I own some small interests in tiny, 4 barrel-per-day
oil wells in Wyoming. We have 14 agencies that have iron-hand
jurisdiction over us. If we drop any oil on the ground when the
refinery truck comes to pick up oil from our holding tanks, we are
fined. Yet down the road the state will spray thousands of gallons of
used oil on a dirt road to control dirt. When it rains that oil runs
into rivers and creeks. Yet a cup of oil on the ground at our wellhead
is a $50,000 EPA fine plus additional fines from state regulating
agencies. They treat oil as if it were plutonium that has the potential
to leak into the environment.

We are fined if our dirt
burms are not high enough around a holding tank, yet the truck that
picks up our oil runs down the road at 60 mph with no burm around it.
People wonder why there is no more exploration in this country. It's
because of the regulators; people who have lived their whole lives
doing nothing but imposing fines on small operators like us for doing
mostly nothing.

So, America enjoy your $4.00 per gallon
gasoline. Your dollar is now worth 0.62 Euro-Cents. The lack of
American production of GNP, the massive trade deficit (as labor markets
have moved overseas to fight insanely high union imposed labor costs in
America) and the run away printing of money (backed by nothing of value
here in America) has caused the dollar to become more worthless on the
international market. And that's where our oil comes from. It's paid
for with dollars that become more worthless everyday. If we had just
kept par with the Euro we'd be paying $62 dollars per barrel for oil
(42 gallons) or about $1.50 instead of $2.50 a gallon for crude oil.

What
the US government also does not tell you is that it is the leaseholder
and royalty recipient of most oil production and receives 25% of the
gross oil sales before we pay for electricity to lift the oil, propane
to keep the
oil-water separators from freezing in the winters. We pay a pumper to visit
each
well everyday plus we have equipment failures all the time. We pay for
that out of our 75% of gross sales. The government does not share in
any expenses to run any production well. So, if the Big Oil Companies
are making record profits, then so is the federal government from its
25% tax on every molecule of oil sold to a refinery in this country.
Why isn't the government on the stand for " Record" profits? What you
don't see is this 25% of the sales price of crude oil being siphoned
away by the government. That money plus the road taxes, state taxes,
etc. amounts to over $1 per gallon of gasoline you are buying while the
governments only admit to about 50 cents per gallon.

Bill Phillips

affraid

Subject: Re: 3 Ways to bring down gas prices Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:46 am

Abe F. March wrote:: You're right Gordon.
Assuming that the alternative methods are not squashed by the oil companies, the fact that there is an alternative will decrease the demand for fossil fuels. Since it is not "convenient" to get and since it may even cost more initially, the switch to the alternatives is difficult to make.
Keep in mind that there is, and will continue to be, manipulation by the oil producers and suppliers. They will do whatever is required to keep people dependent on oil. As soon as there is a viable movement to alternatives, the supply of oil will increase and the prices will come down.
For most, it is like an addiction. It is hard to quit - break the habit of this dependence.

I think we need to somehow keep the prices of the alternatives lower than the price of oil. Only then can the alternatives have a reasonible chance of taking over the market. Of couse, those with vested interests in oil don't want that to happen. I wouldn't at all be suprised if when the alternatives start taking over the supply of oil magically increases and the price dropps dramatically. However, people should remember that petrolium is a finite non-renewable resource that will eventually run out. Oil will not last forever and therefore it is important that we find and impliment alternatives.