Did the Oil execs cause the inflationary times were in by gouging at the pump?

Question

...hey Scmoo...logically....how can you or they justify the increases at almost 100%?...it's B.S. man...and you know it...

...I'm sorry there Mr rusted you hav to do better than that...we say:100% increase?
...30 yrs in petroleum-maybe jus a tad biased?
...now back to the trembling question-How many gallons are used in this country at the pump?
...Come on guys-jus pretend were in front of Congress or some other investigating committee.

...I'm sorry there Mr rusted you hav to do better than that...we say:100% increase?
...30 yrs in petroleum-maybe jus a tad biased?
...now back to the trembling question-How many gallons are used in this country at the pump each day??
...Come on guys-jus pretend were in front of Congress or some other investigating committee.

ahhh...Infinity...good to hear from you.

O.K. Let me count it up without exact #'s...approximately 300-500 million gallons a day...now how much are you losing now you greedy bastrds...quit lying.A DAY!

Now there Bruhaha-We all should know by now the truth is all companies have a habit of watering down the profit they take in...we see it all the time in the movie industry...how many movies grossed over 100 million and didn't make a dime...so,come on already...with all due respect we are being ripped off at the pump.They're(oil execs)are all pimps...and they need to be put in there place by CONGRESS.
This president obviously doesn't giv a sht.

Answer 1

Not sure it's wise to wander in. . . but here goes. ..

1) What are these "inflationary times" you say we're in??

Take a look at the following chart of inflation rates over the past decade, and you'll see it simply isn't happening
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx?dsInflation_currentPage=0

For perspective compare this with 1974-82 !
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx?dsInflation_currentPage=2

2) You cannot compare ANY prices from one year to another, esp. decades apart, until you adjust for inflation over that time... even if the annual inflation rate is low. When you do so you discover that current gas prices are not as high as at their peak in the 1970s.

3) Since there is no monopoly involved, unless you are suggesting collusion BETWEEN competing oil companies -- and you have offered NO evidence of such, nor have the many who like to demagogue this issue -- the prices will be set by the MARKETPLACE, that is "supply and demand". If something is in relatively scarce supply relative to the demand, the prices WILL go up. That's nothing unusual or unique to the oil business. And no one complains about this when it works in their own favor.

Another fact -- there is now a GLOBAL market for oil and the economies of large countries like China and India has been skyrocketing. This means the supplies are tight worldwide, which keeps upward pressure on prices.

4) Some find proof of gouging in the gross receipts or profits of oil companies. But that can be very misleading. If you are looking at a BIG oompany that does a lot of business (that is, sells a lot of its product) the amount of money it takes in and makes will likely be large.

So, if Exxon makes huge gross profits, how we are to assess this? By considering things like how much they SPEND and the PERCENTAGE of their profit. For example, in a recent banner year Exxon made something like 10% profits. Not bad -- but this was in a BOOM year, when numerous companies in other fields had a much larger profit margin... and 10% was not that impressive.

5) I do not understand why those who complain about high gas prices refuse to acknowledge clear contributions to higher prices that have NOTHING to do with the oil companies, esp. the effect of GOVERNMENT polices-- high gas TAXES (which help the oil companies not at all), and increased regulations, such as those which have prevented the building of additional refineries, and 'clean air' requirements of numerous blends.
________________

By the way, I have no connection whatsoever to "big oil" -- don't work for them or know anyone who does, and I don't have any money invested with them. (Of course, what if I did? If the FACTS and logic are correct what would it matter? Dismissing people ONLY because you think they have an interest in defending a position, without any evidence that their facts are wrong or arguments are fallacious is a simple ad hominem.. a weak argument, at best.)

Answer 2

Personally, I think the oil industry is VERY responsible for inflation.

Everyone needs fuel. The keyboards we are using, plastic, were made from fuel. Fuel was used to ship them to the accross the country until they landed on our desks. Fuel is used in every single thing that we do. It fuels the kilns for metal shaping, many products are petroleum based (including first aid gels and plastic). Fuel was involved in their manufacturing and shipping. Fuel was involved in the drive to go to the store and pick them up.

The fuel companies know this. So, because everyone and everything uses fuel, they charge just as much as they can get away with charging. When that price goes up, the prices of EVERYTHING is not too far behind. Because everyone has to pay more for fuel, then the expenses involved in manufacturing and shipping goes up. Because the expenses of manufacturing and shipping go up, all the other companies have to raise their prices to keep their profit margins steady.

Everything in our homes involved petroleum.

The petroleum industry dictates the world economy.

Answer 3

What "gouging at the pump", are you talking about.
A barrel of oil is $69.40
There are 42 gallons in a barrel.
$1.6238 per gallon.
Gasoline is $2.799 per gallon (Nat'l. Avg.)
Leaving $1.15 per gallon
In Pennsylvania there are 51 cents per gallon taxes and fees($0.18 fed .12state .12 state road tax .08-.10 cents underground storage,EPA and other fees and taxes.
This leaves 64 cents
The average retailer makes 10 cents a gallon or less
GROSS profit.
So 54 cents is split between
A)the Shipping company,whether it's imported from Canada,Mexico,Venezuala, or the Middle East or pumped from U.S. held ocean rigs,
it still has to be shipped.
B)the Refinery,it has to be turned into gasoline
C)the Distributor,
D)the trucking company

I WAS IN NO WAY DEFENDING ANY OIL EXECS
However, I will stand by my statement
THERE IN NO PRICE GOUGING

20-25% of the gas price is TAXES

I am NOT "a tad biased"
I had to go from making a decent living with my "Service Station"
To Barely getting by With my conveniece store/gas station/carwash
20 years ago there was profit in gasoline and auto service
Now, today. the PROFIT on a gallon of gasoline is about 10 cents per gallon for cash sales(credit card purchases cost the retailer 1.5-3% in credit card fees 3-8 cents @$2.799 per gallon)


It seems a waste of time(mine and yours) to ask a question when you dismiss every answer except those that agree with your OPINION

Answer 4

Ethanol mandates are inflicting greater nutrition expenditures as we divert land and corn for gasoline quite of nutrition use. This reason us to pay greater expenditures for meat, (feed,) diary and eggs and likewise no longer as plenty land for wheat. So now bread and rice expenditures flow up. gas is being affecting by using countless factors. we've develop call for from China and India, the fee of the dollar is down. Crude Oil is priced in funds and since the fee of the dollar is going down the fee is going up. to no longer point out that as gasoline cost is going up the fee to transport the two nutrition and oil is going up. the different foot has no longer dropped yet. A barrel of oil additionally supplies you uncooked components for form of alternative product and those expenditures are going to start to upward thrust. government mandates contained in the US to have banks lend to sub best lenders or face discrimination fits and the banks desire to make funds lead them to kit those mortgages as an investment product which replaced into offered international extensive. as with throughout valued product the marketplace tried to superb suited. in spite of the shown fact that by using this time different counties have those and value is going down. considering the fact that a currencies fee is tied to human beings faith in government faith is going down then fee is going down. additionally as we shop cutting our expenditures and throwing funds into the marketplace it extra erodes the fee of the funds grant. the superb ingredient the government can do is say the US is dedicated to having a good dollar. the US will repeal all ethanol mandates. we would have a finished capability technique. All beef barrel spending in present day economic 365 days would be bumped off type the funds. decrease company tax expenditures to those of the ecu so as that we get extra businesses to verify the US which will help our economies. Then flow on a holiday and go away the financial gadget to the marketplace.

Answer 5

Does anyone else weep for their republic, when the sheeple believe every scapegoat that father government tells them exists, and then obediently nod their head when father government tells them that the only solution is more government?

This country has been in a downward inflationary spiral ever since the government convinced the people that Federal I.O.Us are a better idea for currency than something of actual value. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the dollar has declined to less than 1% of its original value. That seems more logical than blaiming the government endorsed scapegoat, the oil companies.

But that's not what you want to hear, is it? Keep believing big brother. He is watching out for you. He will protect you from all those greedy evil corporations. All you have to do is keep feeding him your rights. Better to be safe than free, right?

Answer 6

"Inflation" is not a function of supply-demand, nor of oligopolistic behaviour. It is a function of more printed and other forms of money chasing the same amount of goods and services. Only govenrments and their agents (e.g. the Federal Reserve) can cause inflation.

Cost of living may be affected by many factors. These are summarized in the intersection of basic suppy-demand curves. Many factors impact each curve. The formation of an oligopoly or a cartel would of course tend to raise prices, and suppress demand. The elasticity of demand will be a significant determinant in whether or not the oligopoly will in fact raise prices. It appears that historically in the US, the elasticity of demand for oil/gasoline is low in a price range of $20-$70/barrel or up to $3/gal. for gasoline (adjusted for inflation).

If confused, sign up for a basic micro-economics class and in four month it will all be clear.

Answer 7

Scmoo must be getting kick backs from the oil companies. LOL. Anyway, yes I think their greed is contributing to it. Their greed is also contributing to my not wanting to go anywhere for fear of spending all my money on fuel. When they are posting BILLIONS of dollars a year in profits, I think they would live if they scaled their prices back a little bit, don't you? I miss the days when it was under $1.

Answer 8

Yes, they do. When they use percentages to increase prices, prices go up more, because it is always a percentage of a higher amount.

On top of that, they use "zone pricing." Allegedly that is because of their costs. But where I live, in Northern VA outside of DC, the prices are considerably higher than only a few miles outside of the beltway. They know we can pay more, so they are after every cent they can.

Never trust an oilman.

Oops. Seems to me that Bush money comes from oil. What do you make of that?

Answer 9

How do you explain how Taxes are going up so much? Did the oil company execs do that? I am no fan of executives, in fact I think of them as being somewhat below pond scum, but if you want to look for a scapegoat, find one that has more plausability than the oil company execs. How about taxation-crazed liberals?