With oil companies hitting record profits, there is absolutely NO reason why prices are also hitting record highs...

Here's a thought on how to drive prices down maybe:

This method will force us to go to the gas-station more often, but it will hurt the gas companies profit margin in the long run.

A little bit of background first.
Oil is typically refined into gasoline and then shipped out to regional storage facilities, from these facilitites, a tanker comes and fills up to distribute gasoline to the different stations, this is done either daily or every other day, depending on the demand.

There IS a way to reduce demand. Simply buy gas 1/2 tank at a time.

Assuming we all fill up at every visit to the gas bar, most of us will purchase less gas than normal if we cap it off at 1/2 a tank, therefore there is more gas left at the station that we could've bought, but didn't.

The next time the tanker comes to fill the station up, it does not unload as much gas.
If every station has gas left over in their reserves, then the tanker must return to the storage facilities still carrying gas in it's tank.
The gas company will notice this and interpret it as a drop in demand. If enough people do this (and sadly, it would have to be in the millions) we would see gas prices drop, but we would have to keep doing it until they go below $0.99/litre (sorry, I'm in Canada, we do it by litres here). I know way too many people who now believe gas @ $1.30/litre is cheap and will horde and fill up all their vehicles, this urge will need to be resisted.

So, to summarize: More gas left over at the station = more gas left over at the tanker = more gas left over at the regional storage facility = less gasoline needed to be shipped in from the refinery, and ultimately hurting the bottom line of the oil companies.

Just my 2 cents worth.

This just in, Common Sense News Network.....


Don't buy oil,
Don't buy plastic products.


That will not use oil..


Shock and Yawn.

That may seem like a good idea, however, most gas stations have electronic sensors that tell how much gas is in the underground tanks, thus enabling the facilities to determine how much to send to any one station. It prevents them from having an overflow. The only real way to affect the oil companies, is to drive less, carpool and use public transportation. The less that you can do without petroleum products, then the more stock the gas companies will have. However, there is a flip side to what the op is proposing. 100% of all of the gas stations have no control over the price of gas. They have to set prices as they are told and the only way a gas station makes any profit on the sale of gas is on volume. Most of what they make per gallon is about .04 cents on every gallon sold. The money that they make comes from the sale of other items, such as sodas, water, cigarettes, and other items that are more spur of the moment kind of items. While it may seem a good idea not to purchase gas, it will have more of a direct consequence on those who sell the gas, as they will suffer. Most gas stations are operating on a tight budget and have to try to do more and more with less and less. So if you do not purchase gas, be sure to purchase other things as it would help the employees who work there in the long run.

This is a brilliant gambit. But alas and alack. It relies upon the "all of us" factor which has shown through much of history to not be very dependable.

I recall in 1969 the big oil spill In the Santa Barbara Channel by Union 76. A boycott was announce against them to try to bring them to compliance with regulations. "Don't buy from Union 76" I joined in and that cut their profits only slightly for a short time. 42 years and I have not bought gas from them the whole time. I'm such a stubborn old mule.

Personally I think this would result in longer lines (people visit the gas station twice as much) and possibly more gas used (Have to go to the gas station more often). Unless you alter the miles you drive your car, it doesn't matter how many ways you slice the fill up routine. You'll still need x amount of gas to drive y amount of miles.

What you fail to take into account is that you'll still be using the same amount of gas. You'll just have to buy a half-tank twice as often....

I limit myself to 1 gallon a week when it goes over 3.50. That's enough to go to the grocery store, the bank, and 2 pharmacies I shop at. I challenge myself to not go ANYWHERE but once a week. The hubby goes to work and back daily but that's it.
We're so free. We're free to be held hostage by a bad economy, draconian travel rules, and the high price of gas.

ETA Amazon prime rocks even more with gas prices so high. I needed a masonry bit yesterday and it saved us a trip into town. We've been using it for books, hardware needs, sewing needs (like thread) and even some grocery items.

Hadriana: Yes, but the shipping costs will eventually go up due to fuel increases

To the others:

I realize it's the same amount of gas, and the plan would require you not having to go out of your way to get said gas. (This would be difficult for rural residents).
But the goal is to reduce the daily revenue of the oil companies (since prices are adjusted daily as well).

I say buy a horse, if you have land to, if not buy a bike or electric or even a gas scooter as the gas scooters will go twice as far as a car on half as much gas. You could probably fill it once a month (if you don't work or work from home). I am going to try to get a scooter for now I just go out when absolutely necessary, and a lot of times if my friend has to go to the same place I will ride there with her because she asks me to anyway, I will go to the beach once a month as opposed to every weekend this time last year. If I take any long trips, I won't go that month to the beach at all.

Actually - Oil is a world wide product. It doesn;t matter much if you or I don;t use some oil - there a guy in Mumbai who will be happy to use it in his new car. There is some difference in the price of Gasoline ( anyone who has been to Europe can tell you that) but the prices differences are almost entorely due to tax difference.

Compared to most of the rest of the world, our gasoline in the USA is cheap.

Good idea. I just traded in the GTI for a TDI. Until they price gasoline without obscene profits, I will drive a fuel-efficient car. I will miss my GTI and poor gas mileage because it was so fun, but not enough to give Big Oil their greedy profits. I will deal with it. I am also anti-plastic. I truly hate these bastards who have contributed to outrageous increases in food, consumer products and everything else while making record profits. They will use any crisis to gouge us. Our gov. sits by idly, while imposing no taxes, no price caps, and no consumer protections. We will eventually win this battle. We've seen their corruption, and we will ensure their record profits tank.

I am absolutely behind people driving less and consuming less, but truthfully, people driving isnt the deal breaker for oil companies. You can hurt the local gas stations, sure, but not the oil companies. While gasoline fuel is the biggest oil burner in the US, accounting for around 40% of what is used, there is plenty of other industry out there that would keep them afloat.

Hell, the Department of Defense is the single biggest energy consumer in the nation. Between them and industrial uses/transportation, the residential becomes even less relevant.

If we want it to make a difference, we need to get this COUNTRY off of oil. The cars will follow.

Oil companies and old men are in control and always will be. The only way is revolution. That won't happen until everyone is homeless. WWIII will be started before that happens to distract everyone.

The plan is flawed, like others have stated. Sure, if I fill up half way, the gas station would get less $ today than if I filled up completely, but they will get more $ than they otherwise would have received when I have to stop for another half tank.

But if it did work, it seems like it would only help temporarily.

To me, if you wanted to bring down the big oil companies (which I don't because I live in Texas and work for an offshore construction company) it would make more sense to burn as much gas as you can. The sooner there is no more oil, the sooner there will be real investment into alternatives energies. Reducing demand only means oil companies will be in business longer. They are making tens of billions of dollars per quarter. A short term decrease in demand won't effect them too much.

Originally posted by Konstantinos
With oil companies hitting record profits, there is absolutely NO reason why prices are also hitting record highs...

There are tons of reasons and they have nothing to do with the distracting nonsense of "record profits". Check out "Big Oil's" profit margin instead of just their profits.

Exxon earns 7 cents of every dollar on gas sales. Federal and state governments make 48.1 cents of that same dollar. Now tell me who's screwing us.

Originally posted by Konstantinos
With oil companies hitting record profits, there is absolutely NO reason why prices are also hitting record highs...

The reason is quite simple: It's how the market works.

Supply can't keep up with demand => higher prices => More profit.

The reason the price go up is to kill demand. It prices didn't go up we would end up with shortages at the pump instead like they are experiencing in russa right now due to an enforced price ceiling.

This is good in theory. The reality is your going to have to get a crap ton of people doing this everyday, all week, and all month. This would have to be done on a large scale to even hurt the oil companies. Like the op said they have been hitting record highs every quarter and that's not coming from just one persons pocket book. I like your motivation though.

My thought is I just wait as long as I can .. Hoping the gas will drop just a couple cents.. but it usually doesn't lol

Nice thread though !

Oil is ridiculously cheap, gas is insanly cheap.

A barrel of oil contains the energy equivalent of about 8 years of manual labour. For this barrel we pay about $100. Would you work 8 years for $100?

Instead of complaining about the gas price you should complain about how society got so dependent on oil and how the society is wasting this unique resource on lazy habits.