$4 Gasoline? Who Sets the Price Anyway? Does He Have A FAce?

Supply and demand rule all. Demands go down, prices will undoubtably follow.

exactly

reply to post by Stormdancer777

Donwhite posted "But $400 oil? Never."

thanks again Don, yes, I doubt people with means will ever do without

Because oil is so important to our economy, you'd think the US Government would have an agency dedicated to the PETROLEUM issue. What most of us lack is FACTS about oil.

Sort of like the population clocks they sponsor, to let us know how many of us have to divide the bounty of this planet. Generally that means the more there are the less you get. Unless you are an R&F-er - Rich and Famous - in which case your share is as much as you want.

Sources of our oil. Where does the oil we consume come from? We ought know.

Refiners. I am under the belief 2-3 million barrels a day (mbd) of finished product - gasoline to you and me - is imported. (Ever notice the richer you get the less you like to speak English?) We are told there is a short-fall in domestic capacity. Why is that?

We hear the usual litany about TOO many rules and etc. This is not Auschwitz, so what’s wrong with rules about what a super rich corporation puts into our air? Or our ground water?

Pricing? If all the gas companies are in collusion about pricing, where are the ANTI-TRUST legal beagles? If there was 100 viable oil companies in America in 1950, why are se sitting here with only FOUR? I mean companies of consequence.

The BIG 4? ExxonMobil, TexacoChevron, Shell and BP Amoco. You may buy your gasoline from a station bearing another name but the gasoline you put in your car came from one of the four BIG companies. They get theirs no matter what you do. CITGO is owned by Venezuela. Like him or not, Hugo Chavez is more like you and me than the CEOs of the Big 3.

For more (2005) facts about oil than you may want to know, go to
www.gravmag.com...

I noticed that you endorsed Seagull’s reliance on Supply and Demand. Adam Smith (1703-1790) is given credit for being the first to link the two conditions of commerce. His seminal work, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” was published in 1776. Its title is frequently shortened to Wealth of Nations.

Modern capitalism was just coming into its own. It being then the Age of the Enlightenment, people back debated the intricacies of their acts and deeds. Smith was first to explain what it was they were doing so well without knowing its name. Laissez-faire capitalism. We had to reign it in - 1933 - but it never gives up the struggle. It is about to break loose of all restraints. Right now I'd say the unrestrained capitalists are ahead. That bodes ill for us.

For the law of supply and demand to work, there must be NO artificial constraints on either. I would argue that never was the case, but I can assure you that it is not the case in the world of 2008. So, to “rely” on some NATURAL law to get us out of the abyss we have fallen into, is to put your hopes falsely. You lose before you start if you play a game but do not know the REAL rules.

[edit on 4/29/2008 by donwhite]

$4 gasoline? It's here. Yesterday I heard the average price across the country is $3.79 a gallon for 87 octane rated gas. But there is worse to come. First, one informed observer says 70 cents of each gallon's cost is due to NON industry speculators. Bad but not as bad as I had thought.

And more bad news. The crude oil bought today at $128 a bbl (42 gal per bbl) will not be at the pumps for 50-80 days. You can bank on $4 gas this summer and in some places like NYC and LA, it may reach $5!

Foot Note. New gas pumps now being ordered to replace those old ones that go up to only $3.99 point 9, will be capable to go up to $9.99 point nine. Per gallon.

Come Quick Sweet Jesus!


[edit on 05/05/2008 by donwhite]

I’d have thought that it’s the Banks (by this I mean banking families i.e. Rothschild’s, JP Morgan’s, Rockefeller’s etc) or the faces behind them that set the price as they do for everything else that is bought and sold? These ‘Traders’ that a few have mentioned on here are not the ones driving the price. You really think that bank controlled corporations actually allow some rogue traders to set the price of the commodity they create wars over? Come on, you got to think bigger! All of these big Corporations and Governments are controlled to peruse in this particular instance the by-products of Oil.

As for supply and demand? Well, the supply or the level of supply is again something that is in a non-confirmable status, who say’s how much oil there is? Who confirms that this is correct? Who’s to benefit from this notion of Peak Oil? This has been talked about since 1960-70’s and whenever they want to manipulate the Supply it will get rolled out as a means of control. But it’s a guess because there isn’t any independent verification possible in the Oil industry. But, we’re certainly completely dependant (the demand) on its bi-products and that dependency has been contrived by Banks via their control of the Corporate World and then the ripple effect down to the sheep in our tin/plastic boxes getting from A to B. Yes, how many have a Loan and/or mortgage? How many will ‘have’ to work their entire life to keep in Debt?

So the price I think is set by the Banking Elite and its not on a daily basis, its planned years in advance (they will create the long term variables) and then leave the smaller players (Saudi’s and the Big Oil Corporations, IMF and world banks) to play with these figures but ultimately all steering us towards their unknown goal?

reply to post by donwhite

i am a truck driver. i haul crude oil / condensate from the lease to the chevron or plains pumping stations to be pumped into one of the many pipelines that supply the refineries in the slc ut. area. until 2 weeks ago there was usually a 2- 4 hour wait to unload at the pump station to unload at the station due to the amount of trucks waiting to unload their crude oil. not now....... every pipeline co. has said that they are full, that they cannot take any more crude. that is a lie ! i've seen their storage tanks, as have others that i work with. why am i now sitting home with no where to haul crude oil to ?

in two years you will see $1000 for a barrel of oil

reply to post by mlmijyd

I’d have thought that it’s the Banks (by this I mean banking families i.e. Rothschild’s, JP Morgan’s, Rockefeller’s etc) or the faces behind them that set the price as they do for everything else that is bought and sold?

Recall reading about the Balfour Declaration? The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation, a private Zionist organization. The "Balfour Declaration" was later incorporated into the Sèvres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine. The original document is kept at the British Library. en.wikipedia.org...

The outcome of that Declaration was the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. America’s unquestioning support for anything and everything Israel does to the Arabs who live there is paid for by us every day at the gas pump. I’d estimate 60% - 75% of the pump price can be laid at Israel’s door step.

That is why I say if America would go ahead and END that struggle and pay the Arabs who lost their property $100 b. in lieu of their “right of return” it would be the best bargain we ever made, the LA and AK purchases included. See Note 1.

[Do] You really think that bank controlled corporations actually allow some rogue traders to set the price of the commodity they create wars over? Come on, you got to think bigger! All of these big Corporations and Governments are controlled . . As for supply and demand? Well, Peak Oil . . has been talked about since 1960-70’s . . But it’s a guess because there isn’t any independent verification . . we’re certainly completely dependent (the demand) . . and that dependency has been contrived by Banks . . the ripple effect down to . . our tin/plastic boxes getting from A to B . . how many will ‘have’ to work their entire life to keep in Debt? So the price I think is set by the Banking Elite . . it’s planned years in advance . . but ultimately all steering us towards their unknown goal?

I don’t know. It does look that way sometimes, but it is hard for me to accept that scores of people and 100s of their minions could keep a secret for that long. Especially when the value of letting it out would be humongous. I prefer to think of it as a convergence of coincidences. Serendipity in reverse.


Note 1. $130 a bbl for crude. That’s $3.095 per gallon (42 gal per bbl). Add to that 45 cents per bbl for ocean transport to a Gulf Coast refinery. Add another $8 a bbl for refinery costs. Then $10 a bbl to pipeline it to a regional distribution point. Then add 30 - 60 cents a gallon for final delivery to the retailer and 56 cents for taxes and 30 cents for profit, and you have $4.69 to $4.99 per gallon at the pump! How's that for close to a Fin for gas? Crude oil bought today will be at the pump in 40-50 days. Just in time for the July 4 Independence Day celebrations.

FOOT NOTE: The above calculations were based on $130 per bbl, but oil closed today at $133 per bbl. That is 2.25% HIGHER than the above calculations. The $4.69 rises to $4.79, and the $4.99 rises to $5.10 per gallon. Thank You Bush43 and VP Cheney. You must really LOVE us.

[edit on 05/05/2008 by donwhite]