O/T Gas and Diesel prices

Point #1 Most of the oil that the USA buys, comes from Canada - and Canada is not a member of OPEC.

Here's the breakdown from last month of one day and gallons of crude the USA bought:

CANADA 1,780 gallons (non OPEC)
SAUDI ARABIA 1,675 gallons
VENEZUELA 1,246 gallons
MEXICO 1,234 gallons (non OPEC)
NIGERIA 1,210 gallons

Point #2 Right now, gasoline is $3.33 in my town.
From that, Exxon makes 9 cents profit on one gallon.

Today - here is where the $3.33 goes for 1 gallon:

Distribution and Marketing - .05 (that's 5 cents)
Crude Oil cost - $2.35
Refinery cost and profits .30

State and Local Sales Tax .25

State Excise Tax .18

Federal Excise Tax .18

They already are..... people are driving less by carpooling more, not going places as much, vacationing closer to home, combining trips to save gas and buying more fuel efficient cars.

Supply and demand. Demand is actually down or supply prices would be even higher. Closed wallets can speak a lot louder than voices.

I've done all of the above, I can't control the oil industry, but I can try to curtail my expenses by cutting back on use where I can.

Next best solution..... INVEST in the oil industry and reap some profits right along with them. I've done that too!

Unfortunately, those pesky laws of thermodynamics keep getting in the way.

• kook

If you read his website carefully, there is nowhere that he actually says how much energy he gets back out as compared to what he puts in.

He can't get a patent until he can convince the patent office that he's getting a net energy gain, which would be really simple to do if it actually worked. Until then, its nothing more than a fancied up perpetual motion machine.

He's hiding behind a bunch of nonsensical physics. Unfortunately, most people don't understand what he's trying to say well enough to know the difference.

Shades of the 100 mile per gallon carburetor that "they" keep suppressing...

Keith

In regard to "supply and demand" - there is a world demand - not just a USA demand. What we don't buy, the rest of the world will.

While this may not apply to you it does apply to many..... ..... If you want to lower your gas bill quit buying those big SUV's and 1 ton trucks.
I know you need it to pull your 30 ft RV or your twin engine power boat down the road 3 or 4 times a year.

If you really want to look at the root of all our problems we could start a post that looks back 50 years when Mom's went to work so the family as a whole could keep up with the one across the street.

I've been able to cut my oil consumption in half since 2003. Some of the cuts were easy (take fewer trips, make fewer passes across the field, etc.), some were harder (giving up my 1 ton diesel pu, getting more fuel efficient vehicles, and tractors, play a little less with my antique tractors).

Prices will never come down other than the few odd cents. Prices will continue to go up, so look at yourself and do something about it instead of complaining. If you cannot figure it out then you deserve to keep paying through the nose.

The problem ain't the oil companies, nor the government. The problem is us. And we've had it pretty darn good for a long long time.

Dale

LORD OH LORD PLEASE BLESS THE USA

Or don't do anything and prove me right.

China is already having many problems from too fast of growth.Their inflation is much worse than ours.

That is what they want you to believe, the truth is that oil is being created constantly.

What on earth are you smoking? They must grow some wicked weed out in Nebraska. Next thing you're going to tell me is that the Ogallala aquifer will never run out of water.

First, I poked around the web a little bit & discovered that Exxon's profit is about 9.5% of sales, which is actually not very high. That equates to roughly 28 cents of profit for a $3.00 gallon of gas. Even if Exxon & their shareholders made no profit whatsover, gas would still cost better than 90% of what it does right now.

Taxes take a much bigger bite, roughly 45 cents per gallon total for federal, state & local. Can't complain too much here, because someone has to pay for the roads that we all drive on. Like most taxes, I'm sure there's a lot of inefficiency in how the money is used, but someone has to pay for all the roads and who better than the people who drive on them.

The U.S. is a vast country, and we tend to drive long distances compared to the rest of the world. With all the years of cheap fuel, we were able to spread out & consequently have to drive much further than people in most developed countries. Because of cheap fuel, we also never developed any sort of an efficient mass transportation system. Finally, U.S. drivers refuse to give up their big powerful cars & trucks & drive smaller, fuel efficient vehicles like the rest of the world.

Yes, the tree huggers & other whackos are a contributing factor to our current situation, but they are by no means a major one. I for one am old enough to remember big city smog, and certainly wouldn't want to go back to that situation no matter how cheap gas was.

Same deal with politicians & the various political parties. Politicians will go along with whichever way the wind is blowing, and collectively have never had the foresight nor the will to create policies that wean us from our dependence on oil. This applies equally to all political parties and individuals.

Development of alternative energy sources is primarily driven by economics, and we have yet to reach the point where alternatives to oil are economically feasible on a large scale. It'll eventually happen, but not at today's gas prices.

Yes, gas prices are a problem, and I'm not any happier than anyone else about spending all that money to get back & forth to work, but the current prices are a result of a whole bunch of factors coming together, not just someone's greed. Take the worldwide oil demand that didn't exist 20 years ago, plus a society that refuses to give up its beloved mobile lifestyle, plus short sighted & gutless politicians, plus a county that covers vast distances, plus poor or non-existent public transportation, etc., etc., etc., and you'll end up with our current situation.

Keith

Yeah, America has it better than the rest of the world. Instead of wallowing in guilt lets try and maintain our standard of living and help it spread to the rest of the world.

But that's different..