Why we pay $3 a gallon for gas.

[mkdutchman]

It was £1.11 per LITRE last week on the motorway services.

Adjust that for the US gallon and currency, and you'll see that $3 a gallon US is nothing to bitch about.

Peter

lemme see.......
1 litre is 3.7854118 US gallons

1.11 British pounds is 2.197578 US dollars as of today

That equals US $8.32 per US gallon if my calculations are correct

[lowspeedlife]

i think a lot of that is taxes is it not?           SR.

[ghmorris]

Huge percentage (often more than half of the pump price) in taxes, depends where you are.

We all like to growl about oil company profits, but where is the angst about govt profiteering through excessive taxation? I wouldn't mind so much if they actually spent gas and diesel taxes on the roads...

George

[Stan]

Didn't I just see on the news tonight that Exxon made 40 some billion in profits this year?  Can I growl now George?
Stan

[biobill]

Not this year Stan.....Last quarter!!

[Stan]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Stan

[ghmorris]

Cyclical business, partly based on who's having a war with whom at the time. Iraq and the current tension with Iran are certainly contributing to oil price rises.

Some years are fantastic, some are crap. Any idea of the scale of dollars invested to make that kind of profit Stan?.

One decent deepwater offshore project goes for the wrong side of a billion dollars these days...

George

[Stan]

OK George...here's one for you....any idea how many billions of dollars oil companies receive from governments in the form of tax concessions, land and mineral rights grants etc. etc. etc.?

Don't forget, every dollar of those tax breaks and concessions is paid for by you and me so they can make their billions.

I repeat...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Stan

[ghmorris]

Guess we're going to have to disagree Stan.

I spent too much time inside the industry during the lean years, wondering if I was going to get a paycheck in the late 80s, to work up much hate for the good times now.

Take consolation in the fact that it IS a cyclical business and its certainly going to get rough again.

Just because I understand the economics doesn't mean I like them. My focus right now is getting as far away from my fossil-burning habits as possible and reasonable.

George

[Stan]

George...Speaking of cyclical...I spent 7 years farming in Dawson Creek. I had one good year.  Had to buy my own land, had to buy my own machinery, had to fight for every tiny income tax deduction, and was one of the most successful sheep farmers in the area, I only lost $90 per head per year.

Then the oil companies came rolling onto my farm to search for more natural gas.  They just about destroyed the place and when I went to the government to complain I was told I had no legal rights, they had them all.  Given to them through bribes to crooked politicians.  Some going back to the 1800's when mineral rights were being given away, bought and sold for a song and used as pay back for bribes.

It seems to me that industries like the oil and gas industry, who KNOW they are in a cyclical business, should do as I do when I know I might not be getting a paycheck in a few years, BUILD UP CASH RESERVES.  It's not a hard concept.  I'm sure the oil industry accountants know all about it.  Instead they blow all their profits on risky ventures and then when times get tough they go whining and complaining to governments, crying like a little girl to get more concessions and more tax breaks.  If they don't they punish their employees by laying them off and then simply blame the government for not giving them more gifts. 

Gee, do you think feel sorry for the Exxons?
Stan

[rcavictim]

I'm sure the oil industry accountants know all about it.  Instead they blow all their profits on risky ventures and then when times get tough they go whining and complaining to governments, crying like a little girl to get more concessions and more tax breaks.  If they don't they punish their employees by laying them off and then simply blame the government for not giving them more gifts. 

Gee, do you think feel sorry for the Exxons?
Stan

Stan,

Your observation here mirrors mine of the North American Big-3 car makers.  These parasites go hat in hand to the government at every level and threaten layoffs and plant closures whenever they don`t get huge gifts paid for by us taxpayers.  I say enough already. They should be forced to compete in the marketplace like most others.  Survival should be based on making a product that people need along with prudent business decisions.  For example, Genital Motors has huge machine shops and large workforces who are trained how to show up at work on time.  This may be a bizzarre idea to some but where is it written in stone that all they can make there is cars and trucks?  How about an affordable wind turbine for the masses?
Appliances that don`t clean your wallet in order to clean your clothes?  House need heat and air conditioning in the summer.  There is a lot of product development room in solar thermal.  Even if they just stuck to making transportation products they could be instantly successful if they followed my suggestion which will follow.  I could go on.

[rcavictim]

Every major city in NA now needs compact, speed limited, efficient, battery electric only commuter cars to mitigate serious smog issues and to take advantage of underused, off peak cheap electricity (plug `em in over night). Literally millions of these cars could be quickly sold. Why is GM laying off workers and closing shifts? GM has waved the carrot of a overdesigned, overpriced exectutive land yaught called the Volt as their pending near future electric offering to solve this critical human dilema. It is a totally joke response to deal with a hugely serious human continued existence problem. What is clearly needed are cheap electric cars, call `em a Voltswagon if you like, that the masses can afford to buy and use. Ford and Chrysler also are asleep at the wheel. The CEO`s and Managment are all idiots and by wasting precious time, are helping seal our doom!


Don`t sprinkle salt on your GM food. It will rust!

[Doug]

Exxon posted a huge profit....

Imperial oil ( a wholy owned Canadian supsiduary { sory Ray I murdered that didn't I } ) posted equaly impressive numbers. Reading between the lines you will see a decline in conventional oil production numbers ( again ) and increases made from Syncrude.

[captfred]

Building a charles 803 ethanol still to produce my own  e85 to run in a day to day commuter vehicle (at least until something electric or air powered comes along)

Anyway have done several searches for flex fuel certified vehicles - guess what comes up for the "big 3"  - all the flex fuel vehicles listed ARE BIG F#@KING CARS AND TRUCKS! (my apologies  for yelling)

They just don't get it (or know something us little people don't) over the long haul gas ain't getting cheaper, so whats wrong with small flex fuel cars - GM builds em in Brazil,   why not for the north american market?

Hell, what's wrong with electric for that matter.

[Stan]

RCA.....Voltswagon...I love it 
Stan