Do you think Boycotting Exxon / Mobil would have a positive affect and bring gas prices down?

Question

By singling out the most profitable oil company Exxon/Mobil, and not buying their gas, do you think that would drive down prices.

I think if every American bypassed this company and bought gas elsewhere, it would drive down prices. Exxon is the most powerful and has the most to lose. Sure, some of the profits woul;d end up at other stations, but when Exxon has been "hosed" just move onto the next.

This question has gotten a lot of good answers. It will be very difficult to pick the best! There certainly a lot of savy people hanging out here!

Hey...I added this for Geeko...oops sorry gekko. Did I say anything in my question about Big Oil plotting to screw americans. Don't think I did! Maybe your answer would have been better suited to a question that was actually asked. Therefore, I'm amused by the ignorance you've chosen to display.

Answer 1

Not by itself! If you want to bring down gas prices, you need to help vote out the current President & most of the Rupublicans in Congress And get our troops out of the middle eastern countries. You also need to understand that our gas prices have been artificially low at the pump for years. Fed and State taxes on other items have made up the difference. Also the oil companies have rec'd lots of federal subsidies (which is our tax dollars at work). The other thing they do to raise gas prices is close refineries. This creates a lower supply and as the demand nevers lowers, it cause the prices to rise.
Conservation is the best way to hit the gas barons in their wallets. Walk, ride a bike, motorcycle, use mass transit, car pool, combine all errands into one trip per week or every 2-3 weeks. If you commute to work, do errands on way home so no special trips on your days off. Live in towns and cities so you can walk and do your errands.

Answer 2

Again, another "boycott big oil" question. So much ignorance. Do you all really think boycotting gas stations would lower gas prices? Make the "evil corporations" hear you? Please!
This may come as a big surprise but gas stations are not owned by some "big evil CEO", they are franchises, bought and payed for by hard working men and women with families.
I have several friends who own gas stations as family businesses and if you think you're hurting from gas prices, talk to a station owner. They make very little from the gas they sell in the first place and to boycott them for a month could seriously put many out of business. Most money they make is selling concessions to people that come in to pay for their gas, they are already selling it as cheap as they can and still get by. Why not organize your little rally to do something that will actually help the problem, rally up all these people and encourage LESS fuel use, lower your dependence on gas. Not that it would ever happen but it would be a real shame if enough idiots gathered together and hurt the people who are already hurting the most from gas prices, the station owners. There is a difference in a democracy and putting honest hard working people out of business. Please, listen to people like Shaun R and Wandermind, just because gas price are high does not mean people in oil companies are sitting there plotting ways to F us over and make more money. I think most people touting these stupid "gas boycotts" have about a one semester of community college understanding of economics, if that.

Answer 3

That is absurd. We already do that when we choose gas by price. Exxon is not an evil conspirator against humanity. It's a business. They deliver a quality product at competitive market values. Exxon is so much more than a gas company. It's OK for Exxon to make a profit, they put the money to good use. Don't forget, Exxon pays taxes on profits, they also contribute lots of money for humanitarian causes. How much have you donated? How much taxes are you paying? Why the vendetta against Exxon?

Answer 4

Not by itself. First of all, not every American will boycott Exxon/Mobil. Our country is too dependent on cars and therefore dependent on oil. Many people live in places where cars are the only mode of transport. Second, if we want to really bring gas prices down, we need to utilize our alternative fuel sources, which is getting some momentum, but not catching on fast enough and there are some people who are purists and will only use gasoline. We could bring the gas prices down, but it would take a very large and dedicated effort.

Answer 5

No. Contrary to what is often stated, profits made by oil companies are not what is causing the high gas prices. Oil prices are set on international markets, not by individual companies. Simple supply and demand. The world's oil demand is increasing, but supply isn't, so prices rise.

You want to decrease the cost of oil and therefore gas, get the liberals to open up to drilling in Alaska and off the Pacific Coast. Allow more oil refineries. Open up the possibility of nuclear power in the United States.

"Big oil" is only managing the oil, they do not have complete control over the pricing. They have been investigated over and over again and nothing has ever been found.

Answer 6

No it will never work because what happens when one of the companies doesn't sell their gas as much as the other, is this "other" company will buy the gas from Exxon because it is cheaper than getting the oil and going through the refining process to make gas. So Exxon still sells their gas!!! It is an unfair war that we will always lose!!

Answer 7

You know I really think it is impossible to completely boycott a company. Especailly one as large as Exxon. I think the question legitimate question would be "how many people would actually boycott Exxon?" Not many I'm sure. There is nothing we can do about gas prices except leave the middle east alone and find other resources.

Answer 8

Oil companies can manipulate their prices somewhat by controlling how much gasoline they produce and where they sell it, but they can't alter the basics of supply and demand: prices go down when people buy less of a good, prices go up when people buy more of a good, and prices go way up when demand outstrips available supply. The "gas out" schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two specific brands of gasoline for a while won't work, however, because they're based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for gasoline is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: gasoline is a fungible commodity, so if one oil company's product isn't being bought up in one particular market or outlet, it will simply sell its output to (or through) other outlets:
Economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says any boycott of "bad guy" gasoline in favor of "good guy" brands would have some unintended (and unhappy) results.

. . . Welch says the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."

So motorists would end up . . . paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.

And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."

Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline — and buy it all from somebody else's refinery."
A boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.

The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure, however.

Answer 9

Oil companies can manipulate their prices somewhat by controlling how much gasoline they produce and where they sell it, but they can't alter the basics of supply and demand: prices go down when people buy less of a good, prices go up when people buy more of a good, and prices go way up when demand outstrips available supply. The "gas out" schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two specific brands of gasoline for a while won't work, however, because they're based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for gasoline is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: gasoline is a fungible commodity, so if one oil company's product isn't being bought up in one particular market or outlet, it will simply sell its output to (or through) other outlets:
Economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says any boycott of "bad guy" gasoline in favor of "good guy" brands would have some unintended (and unhappy) results.

. . . Welch says the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."

So motorists would end up . . . paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.

And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."

Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline — and buy it all from somebody else's refinery."
A boycott of a couple of brands of gasoline won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.

The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less gasoline, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure, however.

Answer 10

No. People always send along "National do not drive day" emails, but that won't work. We as a society will not get together to boycott gasoline... we are too lazy. The best thing we can hope to do is find alternate fuel sources. (Brazil and Iceland are doing well with them) The problem is that the oil companies are buying up the rights to new fuels, so they will continue to screw us over long into the future.