For gas yeah it hurts at times. But it makes our economy a bunch of money too, say in metals....all commodities. It's a commodity that can hurt at the pump but make us rich at the same time.
Post 35 -- where I showed that when the price of crude oil triples, the corporate profit doubles, even though they have passed the entire increased cost of oil along to the customer and have no additional costs to cover. Incidentally, what I said was that oil company profits are part of the rise in gasoline prices, not oil prices. Is that your problem, you don't understand the difference between the price per barrel of crude oil and the price per gallon of gasoline? Or the relationship between them?
This article is from 2003. Found it somewhat interesting: Bush plan gives huge tax break to buyers of big SUVs
I read where oil companies get on average $.09 per gallon profit. The government gets $.50 a gallon. Also, the article said, the government has received billions from gas taxes.......oil company profits are miniscule compared to the government take. I'll find it. The oil companies are not making these record profits from the increased price of gas. Is that what you think Red? That because gas is now $2.90 that that equates to billions more in revenue? It's not. The profit comes from selling their 3% of oil production to foreign countries and foreign and domestic refineries at $75 a barrel. That's where that profit comes from. Not from a gallon of gas. And like I said, they don't control the price of oil anyway.
An industry-wide study in the late 1990s showed that oil industry profits amounted to an estimated 7.3 cents on each gallon sold.1 More recently, ConocoPhillips reported that during the third quarter of 2005 earnings from its U.S. refining and marketing operations amounted to 9 cents per gallon. This compares with a national average retail price of $2.60 per gallon during the third quarter, the period of highest gasoline prices in 2005. A multitude of factors can affect an individual oil company's profit on gasoline sales. Profitability factors include the efficiency of the firm's refining, distribution and marketing system, as well as its source of raw material. In times of rising oil prices, companies that own and produce a considerable portion of the crude oil used in their refineries may benefit more than other companies that must purchase most or all of their supplies on the open market. http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/margins/index.html
Like I said to no avail to Red, the price of gas is dictated by supply and demand. Not passing the costs down. What factors influenced these price increases? The answer is three-fold: the world price of crude oil, demand and supply. Crude Oil Since the beginning of 2005, the price of crude oil has jumped more than $29 dollars a barrel. Today, California gets approximately 21 percent of its crude oil from Alaska. At the Energy Commission, we chart Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil, a middle grade crude. On January 4, 2005, ANS sold for $37.79 a barrel. On April 11, 2006, it sold for $67.18 a barrel. Since there are 42 gallons in a barrel, this translates into a per gallon increase of 70 cents for crude oil alone since the beginning of the last year. The average retail price in California for regular gasoline was $1.93 at the beginning of 2005. By April 10, 2006, that average retail price had increased 88 cents per gallon, to $2.81 a gallon. Demand Supply and demand can also influence retail price. In California, overall gasoline refinery production is not keeping pace with demand, which causes the state to rely on more imported gasoline. California currently imports more than 10 percent of its gasoline, and those imports are expected to grow to about 20 percent by 2010. Over the past several years, gasoline demand has grown between two to three percent per year, primarily as a result of our state's growing population. However, consumers are also choosing less fuel-efficient vehicles. Of the new vehicles purchased in 2003, one-half were minivans, SUVs or light duty trucks. The supply/demand imbalance becomes even greater in the summer months when gasoline consumption typically rises by nearly 10 percent during the "summer driving season." If a refinery problem occurs in California, the state relies on tankers to ship gasoline to California from the half dozen refineries around the world that can produce the state's clean-burning gasoline. Even the closest refinery, in the state of Washington, is 7 to 10 days away, and gasoline from Texas must come across Panama. In other states, there is a system of pipelines that move gasoline and diesel products throughout the mid-West and eastern states, especially, if there is a refinery problem. Supply Problems California sometimes experiences price increases caused by supply problems. Gasoline consumption typically rises during the summer because more people are on the road during the "summer driving season." For example, in 2003 and 2004, daily gasoline demand rose 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, when you compare consumption in January to August. Refineries prepare for this increased summertime demand typically by doing their routine maintenance December through March. Refineries reduce their gasoline production to perform maintenance and change over to summer blend gasoline during what are called "turnarounds." Refiners typically build inventories or arrange for fuel imports to take them through this turnaround period when production at the refinery fluctuates. If turnarounds take longer than expected, or if unexpected problems occur anytime during the year, gasoline supplies can run short, causing temporary but sharp price increases.
my dream is that gas would go to 100$ a gallon, then people would figure ways around it and stop their damn whining. i also hope that oil companies make huge profits, then point their fingers and laugh at the losers who were lining their pockets instead of working on alternatives.
I understand supply and demand but it is not the only factor at play here. I don't think you understand windfall profits and their role in this. You only have to look at the bottom line to see that $billions are being made during each crisis. They aren't selling that domestic oil production overseas. They are selling it to themselves for $75 a barrel, taking advantage of the Arabs trying to rip us off, to rip us a little themselves.
