Why don't we boycot Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco and BP/Amoco until gas reaches $1.50/gal?

Question

Purchasing from other companies until the price reached $1.50 would stop this nonsense!

Answer 1

Add Citgo to the list and I'm in!

Answer 2

Most gas prices are about 10 cents from the competition, so 1.50 is absurd. So even if you do boycott those companies, the other small companies will still be charging the same, more or less 10 cents! Can't wait for Ethanol to be fine tuned by the time I buy my next new car.

Answer 3

You can boycott Exxon/Mobil & every other large oil company all you want to, but it won't do anyone any good. They are at the mercy of their suppliers & their respective governments.

The oil market is all about supply & demand. Right now, there is a greater demand than there is supply. Some oil refineries are off line, thanks to the EPA's requirements for less polluting summer blends. You also have environmentalists & NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) who refuse to budge & let someone build a new refinery here in the states to alleviate some of the supply shortages. Then, you've got tensions in the Middle East contributing to the price increase.

All we can do right now is conserve as much fuel as we can. Consolidate multiple errands into 1 trip. Slow down & keep your speed at the speed limit or below. Use your pedals gently, don't brake or accelerate hard unless absolutely necessary. Plan trips to avoid traffic. Don't idle unless necessary. Encourage development of alternative energy sources, such as nuclear, wind, & solar to reduce our dependence on oil.

Answer 4

All of the gasoline produced comes from a select few refineries who purchase either for a brand name or for private enterprises. Those independent stations still purchase from the same refineries and distribution chain as the big names, but you are paying for the brand when you buy from the big companies. they are also at the forefront of the drilling operations that make it possible to get gasoline at all.

Boycotting the big name gasoline companies will only work if you intend to do all of your transportation from now on with your feet.

For some, that is not an option.

Handicapped people who live in communities that have no alternative transportation would be compelled to stay home.

Workers who did not live on factory property would be out of jobs.

If we all boycotted (including freight lines who truck ship our goods all over the U.S.) there would soon be no groceries on the shelves at your local market, no newspapers at the newstands, no emergency services and no heating oil for people to warm their homes with.

Consider grouping your trips to conserve gasoline. No more single stop trips. Make all of your errands on one day in a big circle to minimize miles traveled to accomplish errands.

Limit extra outings and excursions to those that can be done on foot.

Get rid of your gas hogging vehicle unless it is a handicapped van or car, in which case you have no options.

Car pool. Share the ride and the expense for the commute to work.

That would do more to save gasoline and cut consumption than anything else.

Answer 5

Because petroleum is sold and traded on a global market and the fuel you but at any brand station is usually pumped and refined by another company. These aren't McDonald's fries you are dealing with here.

"This nonsense" is the global demand for fuel and (of equal importance) the capacity to refine and deliver it to the market. My guess is that you would also oppose drilling for oil on US soil, in the Gulf of Mexico and the construction of additional refineries. These are the things that will bring down the price of gas.

Think a little bigger next time.

Answer 6

Because you can't get enough people to participate in a boycott to have an effect on prices. Besides, if the oil companies couldn't sell their products in the U.S. they would ship them to another continent where there was a demand. Remember, these are international companies.
To the person who commented that prices went up a few weeks ago because tensions were increased by the Iran hostage crisis---------yes, prices went up when they were taken hostage, but they were released last Wednesday, and gas prices in my area went up 22 cents on Thursday!

Answer 7

What nonsense is that?

If the only company selling gas in the US was Chavez, sorry, Citgo, do you think they'd cut the price for you?

Prices went up because for a moment, it looked like war with Iran. Now that tensions are easing, prices will go back down.

Answer 8

1. realize that only 30% of the oil that comes out of the ground goes to gasoline.

2. realize all the rest goes to make the world you know. Your computer screen, computer box, circuit boards, mouse, wires, CD's, boxes for the software. Plus those wrappers on your cheeseburger. Plus for fertilizer for food. For chemicals such as laquer, paint thinner, acetone, lighter fluid. Realize just 1 car tire has 7 gallons of oil in it and we change millions of them per day. Realize all pavement and tar on the roads is oil

3. if everyone just stopped driving fast and drove the speed limit. and if everyone checked their tire pressure every 2 fill ups. you would see gas greatly drop for we waste up to 18% of what we consume. That alone would drop the price by 50 cents and then even more over time.

4. if you really want to remove ourselves from all this, it is as simple as the following:

a. add solar to house to get off power grid
b. add wind turbine (small) to house to get off power grid
c. grow your own vegies in back yard, don't buy
d. condense all driving into 2 days
e. get back to car share for those that have to drive for work
f. change job/alter job so one works from home
g. stop buying just to buy, buy only what you need
h. ditch all vehicles that don't get 30mpg or better
i. stop buying from all over, buy from inside a 20 mile circle

Answer 9

Because we need the gas to get to work.

Gas is selling for 2.14 a gallon wholesale, so who's going to sell it for 1.50???? Even if they were, they wouldn't be doing it long.

Answer 10

cause that wont work, they set the price and we are at their mercy. if u hate it so much, ride a bike, buy a hybrid or simply drive less. if yo uare still driving as much, then shut the funk up, cause its ur own fault