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Old 05-9-2007, 02:05 AM   #101
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

I'm going to go ahead and post this here as well:

I see a lot of bulletins asking to not pump gas on May 15th. This doesn't devalue gasoline, in fact, it could raise prices at the local level.

For example, if the owner of a local BP station sells less 25% less gasoline on ONE particular day, it won't actually effect how much he's ordering. Instead...he may just raise prices per gallon at that particular location so he could meet the same profit line and stay in business.

Before I go on, I don't claim to be an expert. But for some strange reason, over the last 10 years or so I've had an interest in "energy" and the way the oil/energy industry works.

So briefly explaining how this works, and why a "gas-out" would be nothing more than ineffective:

- When you first drill oil, the result actually sprays out of the ground. It's very watery and requires an expensive amount of refining.

- A decade down the road, as they drill deeper, the oil isn't as easy to bring to the surface. However it requires very little refining to turn it into gasoline, making it the most profitable and easily available time-period in a oil well.

- Finally, as you go deeper and deeper, it's harder and harder to bring the oil up. The oil gets thicker and is once again very expensive to refine. Then, finally, the well runs dry and is no longer profitable to drill.

So, MOST of the oil wells in the Middle East are currently at their peak period of drilling (hence the name 'peak oil'). Business is good, however, America uses more and more oil every year. This means that our consumption is expanding, however since the wells are at their peak, the production isn't expanding.

Multiply this with a rapidly expanding oil market in Asia and Western Europe, and now we have competition. We literally have to bid with OPEC for our oil against other governments (and always have). That is why our oil prices are rising. Consumption vs. production. We keep using more while they cannot produce enough to meet demand. This drives up the prices per barrel, and, of course, drives up the prices per gallon.

So is it the oil company's fault? Nope. **** them, but nope.
Is it OPEC's fault? Nope. **** them twice, but nope.
Is it your local gas station's fault? Of course not.
Is it our fault for consuming a ridiculous amount of oil? Yup.

I try to look at the bright side of the situation. High oil prices aren't THAT big of a deal in our day to day life. It simply doubles the amount of money we spend to get around in cars. This amount of money is very small in comparison to what we're spending on drinks at a bar per month or even our mobile phone or internet bills.

However, for someone with an 8 MPG SUV that requires 25 gallons of fuel twice a week to make the normal commute, this is pretty significant. So, now that we've all been slapped in the face with $3+ per gallon...SUV and truck sales are at a record low.
People who never gave a **** about the environment in the first place are now flipping their lids because the consequences are attacking their precious Plasma HDTV savings fund.

So the point of all this gibberish of mine, if there is one:

Don't like high gas prices? Here's how to protest:

1. Sell your car and buy a hybrid or more fuel efficient vehicle. The Sun Times recently published an article that breaks down all of the new hybrids and tells you how long it'll take you to break even on the extra investment. Some of them were as short as 16 months!

2. Stop driving when you can. Take the bus/train.

3. Ride your bike if you're traveling less than a couple miles. Think of your body's calories as free gasoline (it IS just built up energy after all).

4. Stop using oil-based/consuming products when you don't need to. This includes, well, just about every-****ing-thing in your life. Plastic bags, iPods, etc, etc, etc. The more plastic, the more oil.

5. Most power plants in the USA are still oil-based. So switch to florescent bulbs, ease up on the AC, turn unneeded lights/appliances off when you're not using them.

But simply not getting gas on May 15th...that's not going to change a thing. The only person it'll bother is the poor guy who owns the local gas station. Besides, you'll just end up buying more gas on May 16th won't you?

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Old 05-9-2007, 06:35 AM   #102
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Filling up or topping off won't effect it at all. (tl;dr the thread)

Just posting this here since I'm lazy.

As Stretchy said, if you want to make a difference, DON'T USE GAS. If you buy it or not, you will still use it--which requires purchasing more.

It's empty on the 15th. Well, no one would make it empty on the 15th! They'd top it off on the 14th, preventing them from having no gas. Net loss to the oil companies: none. In fact, the oil companies might GAIN money because people make an extra trip to the gas station. Everyone else will simply wait until the 16th to do whatever. No loss to them. People in desperate need of gas will get it anyways. Plus, the amount of the population participating in these 'protests' is too small.

If you want to make a difference, make a 'boycott the use and purchase of gas' day and get a large chunk of the population to participate. THEN they will feel it. Bonus points for making it an entire week or even a month (summer months would work awesome, since people could use bikes). I plan on doing that a lot, since I-94 by me is under construction... for like the 40th time in the last 5 years. Meh!

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Old 05-10-2007, 10:00 AM   #103
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

we should have a national no car or gas day then we would use no gas and create alot less pollution.

then the oil companies would be out of their 2 billion
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Old 05-10-2007, 01:24 PM   #104
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

It won't do anything in terms of affecting prices directly, but it may do something with the spread of the chatter. Jkey's argument is that something that doesn't really affect you to do is worth a shot if it can get people talking, or have a possibility of doing something.

And to all you guys who say "it's not the oil company's fault", I say piss off. Exxon makes nearly $35+ billion a year PROFIT. Yeah, ****ty overhead huh? It is still in part THEIR FAULT. $8-10 billion in profit each quarter... They have so much ****ing room to lower prices, but they don't, because they love that much money. OIL COMPANIES CAN SET PRICES BECAUSE THEY MAKE SO GODDAMN MUCH MONEY.

Quote:
Originally Posted by madmatt621 View Post
Hey guys. Just got back from posted up fliers about not pumping gas on May 15th. I only had time to drive in and around southeast, south central, and southwest Houston. I almost got bitched at by HPD. I'll see about getting across downtown Houston to the north side of town.
Did anyone else lol @ him DRIVING ALL AROUND HOUSTON TO HANG UP FLIERS ABOUT NOT PUMPING GAS?

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1.08 CAD=0.976332 USD

Canada Dollars- 1 CAD = 0.904011 USD

United States Dollars- 1 USD = 1.10618 CAD
1 liter = 0.264172051 US gallons
1 US gallon = 3.7854118 liter

Way to miss that fact.

Last edited by banditcom; 05-10-2007 at 01:28 PM..
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Old 05-10-2007, 03:14 PM   #105
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

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Originally Posted by stretchypanda View Post
A gas-out MONTH or even WEEK would be more effective, but we all know Americans are slaves to their own transportation. If so many people didn't NEED gas, the prices wouldn't be so high. So don't tell your mom and dad not to buy gas on just one day, tell them to start carpooling with their coworkers and buy less gas overall.
True, true. But I only go out as much as I need to, anymore. I have a low income so I couldn't afford to do otherwise. I just pay $20 when the tank starts to get low about once every other week. And thanks for the enlightenment, stretch.
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Old 05-11-2007, 12:01 AM   #106
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Sure, I'm in.
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Old 05-11-2007, 12:29 AM   #107
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Maybe I'm dumb, but wouldn't it be more useful to boycott a particular gas station company/chain for a few months? I mean, while overall gas prices wouldn't go down, it would hurt the company, and send a rather large message to the other gas station companies/chains, wouldn't it? I mean, if everyone were to suddenly stop buying Exxon gas for a few months, Exxon would have to lower its gas prices, correct? Then, at this point other companies would have to match Exxon's price so we don't start buying from there, thus lowering gas prices as a whole. Then again, it's late and this idea is probably flawed/missing the point of not buying gas.
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Old 05-11-2007, 09:03 AM   #108
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Boycott Shell and Valero/Diamond Shamrock.
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Old 05-11-2007, 09:07 AM   #109
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Why Shell? They have great prices on everything except gas.
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Old 05-11-2007, 09:07 AM   #110
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Exactly. Boycott Shell's gas.
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Old 05-11-2007, 11:10 PM   #111
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

If you dont pump on the 15th, then you probably will pump on the 14th or the 16th and the gas companies will make the same amount of money, just on a different date.
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Old 05-15-2007, 02:27 AM   #112
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

This thread brought to you by:

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Old 05-15-2007, 02:54 AM   #113
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Okay, I won't pump gas today. I'll sit around masturbating to midget porn all day instead. Like I always do.
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Old 05-15-2007, 02:55 AM   #114
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

hahahahaha

This is one step above armchair activism.
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:02 AM   #115
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

People are still buying gas this morning. Obviously nobody cares, and gas prices have gone up about 20 cents in the past few days. These companies aren't stupid. If they want to appease their dumb customers, they'll just lower the price to what it was on Friday.

I propose something that will cause more of a stir. Why not boycott the largest gasoline company in the states, Exxon Mobil? If we refuse to buy Mobil for about a year, they'll be forced to lower their prices (which we know they can greatly afford to do) and the other companies will be forced to do the same to match. In the end, it'll actually cause the damage that'll force a change instead of simply sending a message that the CEOs can laugh at.
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:07 AM   #116
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

The convenience of the placement of the gas station will always override that nForcer.

People are lazy, no one wants to drive an extra few blocks to save money.
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:09 AM   #117
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

As stated earlier, not filling up gas on the 15th will really have no effect on the market. Not only would the money be made up the day before or the day after; it would only cause an increase in price. The fact is, gas companies have very little control over price of gas. It's simple supply and demand; and since the market is inelastic, as OPEC and the market drive the prices of crude oil up, gas companies must do the same. Someone pointed out earlier that Exxon made 35 billion in profits (it is the most profittable company as of today.) Whereas that is a TON of profit; the fact is, statiscally; they should be making more money. In the past, the trend for exxon was to profit 9 cents per dollar at the pump. This outraged many people because because the GDP average profit was at 7 cents per dollar. As the market began to crash, oil consumption continued to increase. In addition to this, many cheap sources of oil have been completly tapped out, thus resulting in the price of crude oil to shoot up. As of today, the American market profits on average 5 cents a dollar; whereas Exxon profits 5.50. Yes they're making a huge profit; but, proportionally; it's not as much as they could be making. They simply have little control over prices. Especially in the oiligopoly-like market structure gas companies compete in; a Nash equilbrium is always reached. Oil is going to skyrocket no matter what, because if we aren't willing to pay a certain price for gas, other countries, especially China, will. It is inevitable that the price of gas will give up. The only solution is to find an alternative source of energy; this is what we should be truly promoting.
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:12 AM   #118
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tps222 View Post
The convenience of the placement of the gas station will always override that nForcer.

People are lazy, no one wants to drive an extra few blocks to save money.
Not if people make a conscious effort. Too many people are dependent on gasoline, so a gas-out isn't really effective. I mean, yeah, the logic behind it "working before" is great, but it only sends a message; it doesn't really affect the oil companies. I was willing to do it just to help send that message, but the price drop (if there is one) will be artificial in nature. If we make a serious effort to cripple the largest oil company in the U.S., we might actually make some progress. Remember, the oil companies may control price, but they also rely on us to meet those prices. If we refuse to meet their ridiculous demands, what else can they do but give in?
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:14 AM   #119
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

I made a slight mistake, as of last year Exxon profitted 5.71% for every dollar (5.71 cents.)
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Old 05-15-2007, 11:15 AM   #120
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Default Re: Don't pump gas on May 15th ....

i agree with Hachi86 doesnt matter what date, gas companies will still get there money
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