Culprit of high oil price...

[Sirius1963]

Originally Posted by KI4LIV

I'm sorry folks, it's "unAmerican" of me to even think this way, but there needs to be some government intervention here... To the effect of putting a cap on profit percentages for fuel sales. ...

Congress just determined that Software companies have too much profit, and they will pass a law to limit how much profit they can make. Sorry, no raise for you this year! Some Gub'ment drone making $200,000 a year just decided how much money your company should make.


This has been hashed in other threads. Exxon is making about 10% profit. Microsoft is making about 26% (IIRC).

I don't have a source, I think it was MSN Money or something... The top 5 oil companies made $86b in 2007 ( that's a lot of money!) Now everybody is calling for their heads on a platter.

But, in 2006, the top 5 mortgage companies made $80b Hmmmm, nobody wanted to pass a law limiting them on profits.

Why the difference?

[KI4LIV]

Originally Posted by Sirius1963

Congress just determined that Software companies have too much profit, and they will pass a law to limit how much profit they can make. Sorry, no raise for you this year! Some Gub'ment drone making $200,000 a year just decided how much money your company should make.


This has been hashed in other threads. Exxon is making about 10% profit. Microsoft is making about 26% (IIRC).

I don't have a source, I think it was MSN Money or something... The top 5 oil companies made $86b in 2007 ( that's a lot of money!) Now everybody is calling for their heads on a platter.

But, in 2006, the top 5 mortgage companies made $80b Hmmmm, nobody wanted to pass a law limiting them on profits.

Why the difference?

This is going to come across WAY WRONG, so I apologize in advance as I can't think of any other way to put this.

Why does it sound like you're defending the oil companies? Do you enjoy paying more for a gallon of gas than it would cost for a gallon of beer (not calling you an alcoholic or anything like that!)?

What is YOUR solution to this crisis? I know, I know, reduce our need for the oil - sure - that will help the environment too, BUT, until then, are we to pay until we're bleeding out of our eye sockets for gas because these ragheads got a burr up their rears and decided to jack the prices so that they could put a better grade of gold on their toilet seats?

[Sirius1963]

Originally Posted by KI4LIV

This is going to come across WAY WRONG, so I apologize in advance as I can't think of any other way to put this.

Why does it sound like you're defending the oil companies? Do you enjoy paying more for a gallon of gas than it would cost for a gallon of beer (not calling you an alcoholic or anything like that!)?

What is YOUR solution to this crisis? I know, I know, reduce our need for the oil - sure - that will help the environment too, BUT, until then, are we to pay until we're bleeding out of our eye sockets for gas because these ragheads got a burr up their rears and decided to jack the prices so that they could put a better grade of gold on their toilet seats?

Bingo! there's the problem. I'm defending Exxon, Conoco, etc. because they are not the problem. Congress is, and the oil suppliers (OPEC) are.

If we drill our own oil and develop some form of alternate (wind? solar?) that would help.

I can't find the picture, but there is one that shows

Per Gallon
oil company = 9 cents
taxes = 43 cents
other crap I can't remember....

[Brickboy240]

Ahhh...the big media lies about big oil being the bad guys on the gas price frontier has worked on one more individual. Come on...be smarter than that!

Yep, I too will defend the oil compaines. First, because I work in this field (not for a major oil company, though) and because big oil brings us many good products we use and like. Not only gasoline, but real jobs and other products that make our lives better. They also donate large amounts to charaties and enrich the retirement plans of many Americans.

The true culprits in the high gas price problem - Congress - gives us almost nothing of value. They take and take and are accountable to nobody for where the money goes. They have gotten us to where we are today. When they midmanage the money they forcibly take and run out...they just reach into our back pockets for more.

Big oil? Well, everyone I know at Exxon and BP would LOVE to drill right here and refine right here and put thousands of Americans to work in real paying jobs, providing oil for American use. They have been wanting to do this here since the 1970s.

Congress won't let them do it.

Now...YOU tell me who is worth defending and who is worthless and the crux of the problem!

- Brickboy240

[jnclement]

Hey, I work for an independent oil company, I'll defend us. We fill a tank with oil, some transporter offers us $130 a barrel for it, we sell. No different than a farmer growing a bushel of corn, and someone buying it. Well, actually, it's a lot different, since he's probably a welfare farmer getting subsidized by the government for either growing or not growing. It's called an open market. I can't control what happens to it when it leaves. But I find it hard to believe that people don't understand that gasoline will be one price when oil is $40 a barrel, and roughly 3 times higher when oil is $120. Funny how that works. When oil was $9 a barrel, and a million of my peers lost their jobs, no one seemed to mind. As a result, we don't have the expertise to increase production much, even if the government opened the closed areas to drilling. And some choice places to drill are around, that can be drilled safely. Too bad they're off the coast of Florida and California. If Katrina didn't cause an ecological nightmare after damaging all the rigs and platforms in Louisiana, I'd say CA and FL can be done safely.

And who would really get hurt by penalizing "Big oil"? Pension funds. Millions of people have pensions and 401Ks that have done well due to oil stocks.

And I'll admit I'm baffled by the fact that an increase in oil price shows up at the pump the next day, but a drop takes forever.

Drill here, drill now.

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by Sirius1963

Congress just determined that Software companies have too much profit, and they will pass a law to limit how much profit they can make. Sorry, no raise for you this year! Some Gub'ment drone making $200,000 a year just decided how much money your company should make.


This has been hashed in other threads. Exxon is making about 10% profit. Microsoft is making about 26% (IIRC).

I don't have a source, I think it was MSN Money or something... The top 5 oil companies made $86b in 2007 ( that's a lot of money!) Now everybody is calling for their heads on a platter.

But, in 2006, the top 5 mortgage companies made $80b Hmmmm, nobody wanted to pass a law limiting them on profits.

Why the difference?

Originally Posted by KI4LIV

This is going to come across WAY WRONG, so I apologize in advance as I can't think of any other way to put this.

Why does it sound like you're defending the oil companies? Do you enjoy paying more for a gallon of gas than it would cost for a gallon of beer (not calling you an alcoholic or anything like that!)?

What is YOUR solution to this crisis? I know, I know, reduce our need for the oil - sure - that will help the environment too, BUT, until then, are we to pay until we're bleeding out of our eye sockets for gas because these ragheads got a burr up their rears and decided to jack the prices so that they could put a better grade of gold on their toilet seats?

Take a look at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Home Page). Filings of every public company are there. Check out ticker XOM first and pay careful attention to taxes paid and then to their bottom line profit. Same thing with MSFT and just for fun try GOOG. Look at all the same data and then come on back and let us know what you think.

[afmo]

it feels good to bash the oil companies. Believe me, i've done it. But this is not the oil companies fault. The oil companies are lucky to make a 10% margin. It pisses me off to see them pull in 30+billion dollar profits... even though i know that its an illogical anger.

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by afmo

it feels good to bash the oil companies. Believe me, i've done it. But this is not the oil companies fault. The oil companies are lucky to make a 10% margin. It pisses me off to see them pull in 30+billion dollar profits... even though i know that its an illogical anger.

That's the thing Afmo. From the Pols to the Media, all focus is on the dollar amount, not the operating percentage. It makes better speeches and better press. The anger is irrational but is there because they are constantly placed in fron of the public as the ones to blame....and the funny part is that it's Congress calling them up every damn quarter to defend their businesses. It's easier to deflect attention away from the real bad guys in this show...themselves.

[dray]

Originally Posted by KI4LIV

Regardless of how you regulate it, there is going to be ricky-redneck in his big bubba bronco who floors it, revs the engine in the driveway just to annoy his neighbors, goes out mudding, leaves his motor running while at Sonic, etc etc. An incredible waste of fuel to say the least.

You know what irks me- bashing on truck/SUV owners. I live in America and will drive whatever I please. It's my business if it costs me $100+ a week in gas or if I like the sound of a Flowmaster. I work for my money and will spend it on what ever I want, be it guns or gas (or both). If you want a hybrid and spend .10 per mile in fuel, that's your business. If I want to spend .25 per mile that's mine.

Truck/SUV's are not the problem here, it's the environmentalists who are telling you the trucks are that actually cause the problem. drill off Florida please

[texas_rebel_1980]

Originally Posted by dray

You know what irks me- bashing on truck/SUV owners. I live in America and will drive whatever I please. It's my business if it costs me $100+ a week in gas or if I like the sound of a Flowmaster. I work for my money and will spend it on what ever I want, be it guns or gas (or both). If you want a hybrid and spend .10 per mile in fuel, that's your business. If I want to spend .25 per mile that's mine.

Truck/SUV's are not the problem here, it's the environmentalists who are telling you the trucks are that actually cause the problem. drill off Florida please

praise the lord and pass the ammunition!!! i drive my truck, and i like the sound of my flowmaster exhaust. if that pisses some tree hugging hippy off then too damned bad. like he said, its my money not yours. though i cut it off when i eat my artery clogger at sonic. drill florida, anwr, build a refinery in my back yard! my family works in refineries and i know how safe they actually are. you hear about a tragedy in a refinery and yes it is horrible, but think of the hundreds of thousands of SAFE man hours they operate and it is a small percentage of accidents/hours worked. i myself have applied to a company that specializes in catalyst but can't get called to work with the high prices of oil, no one is shutting down right now for a turn around...