the price of gas going up, up, up...some crude facts....

[Miriam C.]

Lets play a game here. Lets say I work for an oil company or bank (higher up). My company loans me a chunk of money. I "play" the "oil futures game" I make a big profit and my company gets the interest (small) that looks good on paper and all the higher ups get a bonus including me... Whats my motive to stop doing this?

I've got no idea, Miriam but would you have a spare $50 I could borrow

Cheers
Paul

Sorry I was trying to opt out so as not to fuel any cross words...

More's like 50000 to do a good job of it.

Y'all know this was last years big heated debate, right.

Play nice please. Argueing is allowed as long as it doesn't get personal or mean spirited. How's that for PC.

[BrwBier]

I get a kick out of the claims that hybrid cars get such great gas mile when they require being plug in at night to achieve those high mileage figures. Yes they're getting 150 miles driven for each gallon of gas put into their tank, but all of the energy they are using isn't derived from that gallon of gas. I'd like to see some real figures on exactly how much oil, coal, natural gas it is taking for them to go that 150 miles.

Don't be hoodwinked, there is no such thing as a "free lunch' (the first law of thermodynamics). The second law is that you don't even get what you pay for.

Cheers,

Gus

I have been looking for a plug in hybrid, which models are plug in. I thought all were just recharged by the gas engine and brakes.

[pete.wilson]

hey

I read today that luxury cars and full size SUV's (Cadillac escolade's are high on the list) are popular in China because of their growing economy; real estate boom. Now who is going to dictate to them about how much fuel their going to be using, emission controls from their cars and factories, enviromental issues (pollution), Quality products (no lead based paint and cheap, crappy materials), equal rights, contributing to the so called global warming. Al Gore must be losing sleep. Oh, and the price of gasoline in China which is set by the goverment, is $2.90 US. So the next time someone wants to bitch about the US and our way of doing things....Kiss my white American A$$. My recomendation: Go consult and get action from the UN! Now there's a real Joke!

Pete Wilson

[starleen2]

And this is what you get when we changed to an investment style of economics. All profits goes to the investor, speculator, or corporate stockholder. They did it to the housing market and now to energy – think Enron anyone??

[pete.wilson]

Hey

I am wondering about our fellow friends across the great pond. Has the prices in Europe, Australia gone up as much as ours in the last 2 years? I know they have always paid more due to taxes but I'm wondering what it was like 5 years ago, 3 years ago etc. Curious?

Pete Wilson

Starleen2, your exactly right about the speculation and our current situation. It has very little to do about supply and demand.

[PaulC]

Hey
I am wondering about our fellow friends across the great pond. Has the prices in Europe, Australia gone up as much as ours in the last 2 years? I know they have always paid more due to taxes but I'm wondering what it was like 5 years ago, 3 years ago etc. Curious?
Pete Wilson

Pete, if you read through this thread you will see where Andrew(UK) and I(Aus) have commented on the price hikes we've experienced over the last few years. Think yourself lucky that you're not paying what we pay.
Cheers
Paul

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Paul, I did look back through the posts but there is no mention of what prices were back a few years ago compared to now; maybe it's over on the other thread thats going on about gas too.
Yes, your right about not wanting to pay what you or the Europeans pay for gas. Unfortunately there is a big difference between what people truly want and what we are being forced into.

On a seperate thought:
Most people of the world are happy being ruled and will quietly give up personal rights; However, we Americans still hope to have a say in the matter. Thats why we like to keep our guns and our freedoms for as long as possible (the cowboy mentality). Something some liberals don't understand.....Socialism does not equal personal freedom or the rights of the people. Thats why Hillary Clintons....It takes a Village was so stupid.

Pete Wilson

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Some info from today's news about oil:

Retail gas prices have also been following oil futures' record rally, although prices hasn't risen as steeply as oil futures. (Thank goodness!)

"(Gas prices) had a lot of catching up to do," said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla., trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com. (I think he's an idiot, although maybe rich)

Crude prices have jumped about 80 percent in one year, while retail gas prices are only up 24 percent in that time. (we would be in a depression if it did!!)

But Thursday, light, sweet crude for June delivery stalled in its march toward $120 a barrel, falling $2.24 to settle at $116.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Analysts said the dollar's rise against the euro gave investors a chance to lock in profits from oil's recent record run. Investors see commodities such as oil as a less effective hedge against inflation when the dollar strengthens, and a stronger greenback makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. (How come the pump prices aren't dropping like the way they went up....greed)

Analysts believe the dollar is gaining ground on speculation the Federal Reserve is growing concerned about inflation, and may not cut interest rates as much as once thought. Higher interest rates tend to stabilize or strengthen the dollar. (Good, now lets get more stuff made in the USA and import less from China......novel concept!)

And for all our folks that like democrats more than republican who like to should about Cheney/Bush oil. Do some back ground checks on your democrat idols. I would bet a teardrop that none of them make less than $250K a year and if they are well known then $750K per year. I would say then they are ALL out of touch with average american reality!

Pete Wilson

[angib]

Pete,

To answer your price rise question, gas prices in most of Europe have not gone up anything like as fast as in the US, but they have gone up as much - makes no sense, eh?

What I mean is you have had a 100% increase in, what?, three to five years? In the same time our gas prices have gone up maybe only by 30-40%.

But in the same time our prices have gone up by about the same $ per gallon as yours.

The explanation is that the high level of tax we pay on gas is mostly a fixed amount per gallon/litre (not a percentage). So when the price of crude oil goes up by say 30%, our price of gas goes up only by 10%, because two thirds of the gas price is a fixed amount of tax.

So the high level of tax insulates us from crude oil price rises (and drops).

Andrew

[the dog]

On a more somber note: It comes as a terrible shock that my "liberal attitude" turns out to be the cause of all the worlds problems. What was gas in 1999? $30 a barrel. Now +$100. Must be the fault of that damn liberal in the White House!

Regards, JG

JG. I'm not a liberal nor a conservative. Too far left or right is an extreme, not good for anyones sake. I didn't vote for Mr Bush or Mr Kerry in 2004, I wrote in Ron Paul. I won't choose the lessor of 2 evils but I do go to the polls.

If anyone has 3-5 min, try this. It's fun actually. http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Forget reading between the lines, what I said is we are need to work together to solve the problem. The blame game doesn't work, never has. We can't go back to $30 a barrel, deal with today, deal with tomorrow. It's not about libs or conservatives. Nothing is going to get fixed for the next year, the 545 people in the position to run this country can't but more to the point, won't work together. Can we? We better. Dog