I'm watching CNN this morning and they're talking to an exec from one of the big oil companies. They're talking about how the tsunami in japan, along with the problem with the nuclear reactor, will cause oil prices to spike. Now I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but this sounds like a lot of bullsh. I can buy into a problem happening in the middle east, south america or something happening in the Gulf of Mexico causing the price of oil to go up but this is ridiculous. The oil companies are using every incident happening around the world as an excuse to fatten their wallets.
I imagine the "oil companies" you have in mind are more buyers of oil than sellers; certainly they don't set world oil prices, and if they actually had the power to set the price exactly where they wanted, why wouldn't they already have done so? To keep this thread going on Cactus Cafe, I am sure there is a song or movie about rising oil prices.
OK fine. Then blame OPEC or whoever sets the price of oil is at fault. I'm still trying to figure out a something happening in a part of the world where we don't get oil from can cause prices to rise.
Japan does not produce oil, it consumes oil. The economy of Japan is stalled. The transportation system is stalled. Japan will use less oil for some time now. Therefore, oil companies raise the price of oil. Ain't the free market great?
It will take a lot of oil to fuel the rebuilding of Japan which will increase their demand. It might take a few months for Japan to get their rebuilding stated but watch out for all related commodity prices to jump, cement, steel lumber etc etc etc and there will be an increase in demand for oil as well. Instead of stalling a Japanese recovery this should spark it
There might be an increased demand for oil in Japan in a few months-so oil companies raise the price of oil now. Now I understand the logic.
Several of the refineries in Japan are off line. Because they are offline they cannot process raw crude into gasoline, diesel, etc. Japan still needs gasoline, diesel, etc. Therefore they will look to the world market for them therefore increasing demand for processed gasoline, diesel, etc. Increased demand means increased prices. Their demand will likely be even higher if the nuclear plant does not come back online soon.
i still see .20 differences per gallon depending on the gas station you go to. go ***** to the managers of those stations.
Rex, There are some frustrated people having to shell out 40% more for gas than they did 8-12 months ago. That doesn't make it right but you should understand the frustration.
You also have 3 nuclear plants offline which is causing rolling blackouts across the country. Power has to come from some place. I suspect that Japan might have to use oil, LNG or coal on some older inefficient plants to replace the demand for power. LNG has a limited import ability, and Japan has no natural sources for energy. All of the above are other reasons. BTW, I work for a natural gas company and have worked for oil companies as well. We don't set prices. Most of the time what we are doing drives prices down. The price is set by demand and the world market. There just isn't that much spare capacity to bring online quickly except for Saudi Arabia, and I believe they are trying to do that.
Since 6/1/2010 Exxon-Mobil's average profit margin is 8.34%. Microsoft's average profit margin for the same period is greater than 25%. Facts are stubborn things are they not?
Have any of you morons ever heard of the NYMEX? Go look it up. Last i checked that is where the price of oil is set, not by OPEC, not by oil companies, not by Obama. Good grief.
Yep oil companies don't set the price of oil any more than a company sets the price of their stock. Life's hard. Even harder if you're stupid. Now just to get my kicks, when someone complains to me about the price of gas(oline) - gas to me means hyrocarbons in a gaseous state at STP - I look at them and say: "Doesn't bother me. I pay real prices." Dumb look - "what are those?" "I pay the real price of gas. You know, what it actually costs!" "Huh?" "You see, the retail price of gas isn't the real cost. That's the cost after we've conspired to keep supply down, not build refineries, work with speculators to pump up the price, and after Freemasons, World Jewery, and the Rothschilds get their cut." "What!?" angerbuilding in their voice. "You see, I put my company ID card in the credit card slot at a pump when I fill up - it works at any gas station - we're all in it together - and the price goes down to the real price. Then I pay with my credit card and I'm off." "So what is the real price?!!!" They're now starting to boil. "I don't really notice anymore. I think the readout said $2.10 a gallon last week, but I don't really remember." Then I watch and try to hold my laughter in as long as I can.
Oil companies make maybe 7-8 cents of profit per gallon of gas sold. not as much as you may think. on the other hand ... taxes make up for 60-70 cents per gallon of gas that you're paying.
