Low Gas prices are better for Americans

Maybe I'm crazy but low gas prices for everyone seems to be better than high gas prices for a very few wealthy gas companies.
Our local 99 cent gas prices are only a faint memory now. It lasted one week.

Yes, gas prices are tied to jobs, but low gas prices are tied to every American that drives. What they could save in gas could be used
on other things that stimulate the economy.... Can't low gas prices save jobs too? People can commute longer (if they want) etc.

I don't want to get into Trump or who raised what.

American love to drive, they just love it. We love our cars and we love to drive. It's as American as it gets.
If gas prices are lower, it doesn't mean we'll use less. I know in my family's case we'll use more. We love road trips.
I think gas prices can help or hurt the economy more than almost anything else.

I agree with you!

Cheaper gas = more money in your pocket & more travel = more consumption = more money back into the economy

a reply to: JAGStorm

Gas prices are tied to greed above all! Saturday we went to check out an area we were potentially going to move to in a few years when the hubs retires (it's a for sure thing now). Gas here in town was $2.19 per gallon, though just a few days previous it was $1.89. Anyway, we got about 10-15 minutes out of town and gas everywhere was $1.79 per gallon! That's a 40 cent difference! They jacked the prices up in the city knowing people would gas up to head out of the city for the holiday weekend- they do it every time! That is nothing but greed!

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: JAGStorm

Gas prices are tied to greed above all! Saturday we went to check out an area we were potentially going to move to in a few years when the hubs retires (it's a for sure thing now). Gas here in town was $2.19 per gallon, though just a few days previous it was $1.89. Anyway, we got about 10-15 minutes out of town and gas everywhere was $1.79 per gallon! That's a 40 cent difference! They jacked the prices up in the city knowing people would gas up to head out of the city for the holiday weekend- they do it every time! That is nothing but greed!

Gas is a commodity. The margins on gas are very low. Gas stations make practically nothing on gas sales. The prices are based on supply and demand. Weekends, holidays, etc tend to drive up demand hence the prices follow.

Often times, the difference in price are city taxes. For example, here in Chicago, the city charges something like 30 cents a gallon where the suburbs don't. So simply buying gas outside of Chicago can make a significant difference in the price per gallon due to local city taxes.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Low gas prices are a mixed blessing ...
Good for the consumer but oil fields are shut down around the country because it costs more to pump than you get from the sales.
That has many oil field workers on furlough.

Lots of states charge a percentage of sales tax on gas also so some states are taking in less revenue.

a reply to: Edumakated

That can be true, but after working at several convenience stores/gas stations I learned that when holiday weekends are coming up the owners (or companies that own them) more often than not add to the formulated price to make more profit during times of high sales. We have several stores under investigation right now for price gouging with regards to fuel prices.

a reply to: Bluntone22

That has many oil field workers on furlough.

So which is better?
pain/ job loss for a few
benefit for many

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Bluntone22

That has many oil field workers on furlough.

So which is better?
pain/ job loss for a few
benefit for many

As I said.. Mixed blessing.
There are a lot of small oil companies that may not reopen after prices return to a more normal position.
And add to that the purchase of more foreign oil as opposed to domestic so the short term consumer benefit isn't all positive.
Sometimes there is a much larger picture to consider.

The lower state tax revenues could affect the consumer long term too.

a reply to: Bluntone22

There are a lot of small oil companies that may not reopen after prices return to a more normal position.
And add to that the purchase of more foreign oil as opposed to domestic so the short term consumer benefit isn't all positive.
Sometimes there is a much larger picture to consider.

Depends on how you look at it.
If our domestic product can't compete without subsidies, or buying foreign, maybe we need a new product.
Maybe it would force us to create better products long term.

We don't get low prices, we don't get progress, but oil tycoons get theirs.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It does depend on how you look at it.

A barrel of crude oil is 42 gallons.
Today that barrel is selling for $35.

That's $0.83 per gallon.

Very cheap selling price too...

Now transport that oil to the refinery... Train, boat, pipeline,
Now crack it into its base parts.
Gas, diesel, propane, Vaseline,,etc.

Now transport that gasoline to where ever it needs to go.
Then add state and federal taxes plus sales tax in some states.

$2 a gallon is a bargain.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I used to have a love/hate relationship with low gas prices... But since neither myself or my dad are in the oilfield anymore, I'm all about the lower prices. But I do still hate it for the guys out there busting their asses in the oilfield. It's a dangerous, hard labor job.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

Yep. I've always said that if I had a store with a gas station, I'd sell the gas for around $1.50. I might not make as much money in a fill-up as the store down the road, but I'd end up making more money in the long run because more people would come to me for gas and more people would go ahead and fill up instead of throwing $15 or $20 bucks in their tank. When I was younger and managed a tire and lube store, I never gave extra services to a customer (air filters, system cleaners, etc) without offering a discount. Most would hesitate until I tossed a discount at them. I ran that particular store for a month and had the highest composite score in the company's history. Then they moved me to a store in Shreveport' hood, that was doing terrible, and the customers wouldn't take anything extra unless it was free. Womp womp wommmmmmp

a reply to: LSU2018

I don’t think most people realize that a gas station makes more profit selling the driver a fountain pop than they do selling him 10 gallons of gas.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: JAGStorm

Low gas prices are a mixed blessing ...
Good for the consumer but oil fields are shut down around the country because it costs more to pump than you get from the sales.
That has many oil field workers on furlough.

Lots of states charge a percentage of sales tax on gas also so some states are taking in less revenue.

Days of Furlough are long gone. It's all early retirement and laid off until further notice because they don't want to pay your insurance fees.

What most of these fine folks don't understand is... Low prices mean no more oil industry jobs. As they say, $#!& rolls down hill...

No jobs for the oilfield:

= No money for home building or buying
= No money to eat out
= No money for waitresses
= No money for bartenders
= No money for new cars
= No money for vacations or driving no matter what the gas prices are....
= No money for the economy.

Here's where the dumb comes out.

People want low gas prices and complain about big oil but they're using all that extra stuff in their cars and polluting the air and making all that noise... All the stuff liberals and anti oil hate.

So instead of getting a better paying job where you can afford your few extra gallons of gas, or spend wisely - people want to rely on burning mad amounts of oil and gas again at the expense of oilfield jobs. That's effectively trading my vacation and my job so those people can go on vacation and drive longer. Why not just go electric?

Sadly.. These people only care about their vacation and being able to drive all over creation. They don't give two $#!&s about the people that give them that ability. The same people who will no longer have a job and who can't always train for a new kind of job because of age, location and the lack of funds and time to make those changes.


It's these people that are telling people like me to get F@%ed so they can drive more. Meanwhile, I'm too old to jump into another career and my 401k will go to total $#!& because of timing and market issues.. But hey... cheap gas is really the issue. Not me and those like me that are getting laid off in the hundreds of thousands.


They use the thing they hate the most and burden the workers under whip and lash just so they can enjoy that same thing they hate the most.

Pffft Hope everyone that is on that bandwagon gets to see exactly what it feels like. I'd love these people to walk a mile in an oilfield hand's shoes.

I certainly don't mind the low gas prices.

The Chinese plagued hasn't threatened my life in any real capacity, other than inconveniences like not being able to go to the Microsoft Store to utilized my Pureguard warranty for a Laptop I bought several months prior.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Bluntone22

That has many oil field workers on furlough.

So which is better?
pain/ job loss for a few
benefit for many

A few? You seriously need to educate on this subject. I assure you there is no FEW about it.

I might add... You're choosing the price of a commodity over the life and living of a human being. That's pretty F@%ed up. What if someone takes your job away from you because people want to buy what you're selling at a much cheaper price?

You not being able to drive twice as far doesn't take food out of your mouth. Getting rid of an industry I've worked most of my life in will take food from mine and my family.

Not to mention... I can't buy jack else, much less gas that you can now splurge on... If I can't buy a house... The builders don't get paid. Insurance don't get paid. Electricity don't get paid. Water and sewage don't get paid. On and on and on...


But you fools think it stops there.


House builder can't buy a house, a car, spend money on this and that. The people he's giving money to can't buy this and that. It keeps going. It keeps branching. All those billions of dollars no longer go into the economy but you rather pay less money to what you call gluttony so you can have more of their product but you don't care about the people who are actually doing the work? A "few" jobs so you can drive an extra mile?

Why are you people so short sighted?



People better pray and hope there will never ever be a zombie apocalypse because people like me would leave you out there as bait. I'll forgive you but I'll always remember you.

originally posted by: LSU2018
a reply to: JAGStorm

I used to have a love/hate relationship with low gas prices... But since neither myself or my dad are in the oilfield anymore, I'm all about the lower prices. But I do still hate it for the guys out there busting their asses in the oilfield. It's a dangerous, hard labor job.

Amen brother.

You can tell who's been in the thick of it because their heart and their heads are in the right place. Hopefully God finds their soul likewise. People have NO idea. Most people live an easy life with a cushy job. The worst thing they have to worry about are papercuts and the stress of dealing with others. They have NO idea what it's like to have the kind of stresses that people in industy have to endure. It's more than just physical.

a reply to: StallionDuck

There is also the long term ramifications.
After the American oil industry is decimated the price oil oil will go back up.
Not only will we be importing more oil, we will be paying through the nose on all petrochemicals..

originally posted by: JAGStorm
If our domestic product can't compete without subsidies, or buying foreign, maybe we need a new product.
Maybe it would force us to create better products long term.

I sure hope Trump pursues LFTRs - and starts a training program to retrain all gas and coal related workers in the new LFTR energy tech.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Bluntone22

That has many oil field workers on furlough.

So which is better?
pain/ job loss for a few
benefit for many

Wow, so your willing to put a couple hundred thousand people out of work so you can save 0.20c a gallon. What a huge heart you have.

Let's also not think about the long term repercussions of America's oil mining going bust and then 10 years from now when we have no extraction capability and suddenly opec and Russia decide $120 a barrel is a good price.

At that time I guess you'll call it even when you're spending $5+ a gallon because for a few years you saved a bit.

Smart...