Gas Prices are ********

[BigAls87Z28]

Its amazing that we have just took it in the mouth.

FYI, price of oil has gone down to 125 a barrel, or 25 bucks in less then two weeks, yet I still see gas for 3.99?

Robbing us blind. And if someone is gunna say "well it takes time for the prices to come down." it sure as hell didnt take long for prices to jack themself up to astronomical levels.

**** the oil companies. We should be marching on Exxon HQ and burning the CEO's in effigy.

[LS1Hawk]

I agree. When the price of crude goes up, they get away with raising the price of what's currently in the tanks which they bought at a lower price. But when crude goes down, what's in the tanks magically stays at the same price. Fargin Iceholes!

[shortieee]

I dont know in the past few days I've seen gas prices come down. There's a place in Bayonne for 3.75 / gallon and the Getty is 3.89 ... I've also seen gas prices in Paramus area for 3.93 and 3.87

But I guess it all depends on where you are.
Forget Sunoco, the cheapest I've seen in 3.98 on the NJ Turnpike - Nd in local towns it's even worse. I stay away from there.

[WildBillyT]

Supply and demand. There is pretty much a set demand so they can constrict the supply and jack up prices. It's free market capitalism.

I really, really hate to say it but we need government intervention since gasoline really should be regulated like electricity and water.

[SteveR]

I agree, this is insane. Gas by me is still 4.11 - 4.17!

[79CamaroDiva]

Originally Posted by SteveR

I agree, this is insane. Gas by me is still 4.11 - 4.17!

what?! come by me, 3.81 if you're paying cash, 3.89 for credit.

[BigAls87Z28]

Well, I have seen a VAST range of prices, and some of the lower price places are dropping, while the big chains are higher.
I was on my way to see my gf in Red Bank last night, and prices went up 20 cents from where I was to the time I got into red bank.
Getty around my house was 3.79, Eatontown hess was 3.87, Exxon in front of the Fort was 3.94, and on Shrewsberry Ave, Shell and Exxon were 3.99.

Goverment intervention? I dont want to get political, but having certain people in high places helps a lot. And dont even try to tell me it doesnt. Drilling every square mile of America will only help oil companies, not every day people. In the mean time, the rockies will be excavated for its oil sands, ANWAR should be a barren waste land, and the eastern and western seaboards should look beautiful with oil rigs off the coast.
We have how many thousand troops in the middle east, and gas is still going up? If they are gunna go in there and fight for oil, at least drop the fuggin price.

Some goverment probe is giong to release its findings on oil commodities today, we shall see what the find, or better yet...what they dont.
Regulation is being handed down into the banks, expect to see more regulation across the board.
America, Going from one extreme to the other since 1776.

[r0nin89]

Went down 4 cents by me in the last week.

[sweetbmxrider]

it would be a whole different story if you were actually selling the gas....oh how different it would be. oh and gas last september was ~$2.50/gal. imagine that!

[mtnhopper1]

A probe starts into the effect of commodities speculation on gasoline prices, and all of a sudden the price of oil starts coming down... hmmm, seems like a no-brainer to me.

I wonder if the price of corn and wheat are next?

[BigAls87Z28]

price of corn and wheat are bs too. Yeah, cost of fuel goes up, but no one started eating more bread or corn on the cob?
And dont give me the ethanol bit either. Most ethanol in the world is now made using switchblade grass in the US, or sugar beets in other countires such as Brazil.

[JL8Jeff]

Oil is used to make everything nowadays and with China grabbing as much as they can it really won't go back down much. Corn is now being used to make plastic, go figure! Let's see, corn for food, corn for fuel, corn for plastic, hmmm, I bet the price of corn goes up. It's a global population problem that we don't have the resources for what we want. I just don't see prices coming down on anything any time soon. The demand is too high everywhere. And any interuption in supply(oil, gas, water, food) will cause immediate spikes. Katrina/Rita showed us how vulnerable we really are when supply interuptions occur. Lack of planning hasn't helped either.

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[Frosty]

Yes, blame the oil companies when they're profit margins are 8.3-10%, the national average is 7%. Get off the Obama "we're gonna take your profits" nutsack and do some research, please. If gas is that profitable why is Mobil selling off the rest of their gas stations? If gas is that profitable then why is Exxon R&D'ing hybrid batteries? If gas is that profitable why is Shell helping GM build their hydrogen infrastructure? Also, these "oil" companies are also ENERGY companies. They don't even make all their money off of just oil. Furthermore do you know how many 401K and pensions are wrapped up in these companies? They're dividend based stocks too. You can blame Bush, you can blame all the Republicans blah blah blah, the fact is the ENTIRE government has done nothing for decades AGAINST the suggestion of expert.

Oh wait, I forgot, people like Obama and Pelosi are going to save us from the clutches of the evil companies, alternative energy is just a night's sleep away. . Maybe if our ******* government did their job 20yrs ago we wouldn't be in this dilemma. This issue isn't a right vs left issue. It's the entire government's issue and neither side can agree on a damn thing. The right just wants to drill, the left thinks we're magically going to wake up tomorrow and have alternative energy resources and think drilling is evil. Both sides need to wake the hell up AND JUST DO SOMETHING! Do it all, drill, build refineries, go nuclear..or nu-clear as Bush says lol, conserve, fund wind and solar, just do it all. But for Christ sake stop the Ethanol BS, taking a food product to fill up our SUV's is, was and always will be a horrendous idea.

[SteveR]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Yes, blame the oil companies when they're profit margins are 8.3-10%, the national average is 7%. Get off the Obama "we're gonna take your profits" nutsack and do some research, please. If gas is that profitable why is Mobil selling off the rest of their gas stations? If gas is that profitable then why is Exxon R&D'ing hybrid batteries? If gas is that profitable why is Shell helping GM build their hydrogen infrastructure? Also, these "oil" companies are also ENERGY companies. They don't even make all their money off of just oil. Furthermore do you know how many 401K and pensions are wrapped up in these companies? They're dividend based stocks too. You can blame Bush, you can blame all the Republicans blah blah blah, the fact is the ENTIRE government has done nothing for decades AGAINST the suggestion of expert.

Oh wait, I forgot, people like Obama and Pelosi are going to save us from the clutches of the evil companies, alternative energy is just a night's sleep away. . Maybe if our ******* government did their job 20yrs ago we wouldn't be in this dilemma. This issue isn't a right vs left issue. It's the entire government's issue and neither side can agree on a damn thing. The right just wants to drill, the left thinks we're magically going to wake up tomorrow and have alternative energy resources and think drilling is evil. Both sides need to wake the hell up AND JUST DO SOMETHING! Do it all, drill, build refineries, go nuclear..or nu-clear as Bush says lol, conserve, fund wind and solar, just do it all. But for Christ sake stop the Ethanol BS, taking a food product to fill up our SUV's is, was and always will be a horrendous idea.

First of all, oil companies report record profits every single quarter, exceeding 40 billion dollars. Saying that the oil companies are in dire straits is just crazy. Why is Exxon researching batteries? Because it's profitable. Thats what companies do, try and make more money. "They don't even make all their money off of just oil." You answered your own question right there. Companies diversify to adjust potential short, medium, and long term risks and invest in potential 'hot stocks' before they break. These companies recognize the potential for profit in other industries and invest in them, not because they believe in the moral or ethical values, or lack there of, of these endeavors, but for the money to be made if it all goes as their projectors claim. Andrew Carnegie saw the future in the rise of the Industrial Revolution and got into steel, John D Rockefeller saw the need for oil, and JP Morgan saw the development of a centralized government controlled financial system. All three made billions. These oil or 'energy' companies as they are, make incredible amounts of money. Not only are the people getting raped at the pump, but the Saudi's are pissed off that the speculators are driving up the domestic costs of oil and they aren't seeing a dime more than they were. The problem is that our laws allow oil companies to lobby Washington to buy influence and use their influence to sway political decisions in their favor, which is why it has gotten to this point. Nobody in Washington will say anything, because they know that to do so, will be the end of their career. It's an absolute shame that our so called democratic state has turned into a totalitarian capitalist system, and I'm in no way pointing fingers at republican or democrat, as like you said, this problem has been around for decades. One other thing to note while we're talking about energy companies and diversification, is that several companies have been investing in the Congo. Weapons investments that is. You see, there's a lot of things like diamond mines there, and a small little civil war too. What a convenience. What they have done is strategically arm both sides to fight each other, while building 'refineries' in the middle of the jungle, then raping the mines and selling the diamonds off and making millions. Monetary and political influence at its finest.

[Frosty]

I'm not saying the oil companies are in dire straits, however when you have a product that is at an all time high demand what do you expect? It's all about profit margin, they're making 8-10%. So because they have a product that's in high demand they should be demonized? I'm sure they're doing stuff to help contribute the rise in prices but for Christ sake every time gas prices come up it's always their fault. They're just one piece of a very big puzzle.

People should be looking at our government for the last few decades. Oh, people keep blaming Bush for this...hmmm....what has big mouth Pelosi and her Democrat Congress done to help change things? Nothing but whine.

[bubba428]

3.79 at sunoco here...South FTMFW!!!!!!

[SteveR]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I'm not saying the oil companies are in dire straits, however when you have a product that is at an all time high demand what do you expect? It's all about profit margin, they're making 8-10%. So because they have a product that's in high demand they should be demonized? I'm sure they're doing stuff to help contribute the rise in prices but for Christ sake every time gas prices come up it's always their fault. They're just one piece of a very big puzzle.

People should be looking at our government for the last few decades. Oh, people keep blaming Bush for this...hmmm....what has big mouth Pelosi and her Democrat Congress done to help change things? Nothing but whine.

Right, but even if profit margin is 10%, they're still PROFITING 40 billion dollars. I'm not demonizing them, well maybe. To say that because demand is high, the seller should charge whatever they want for their item. If our society were to follow that mentality we'd be back in the Dark Ages. I have bread and water, you don't. Because I have it and you dont I charge you your house for one meal, because demand is high. It's that level of unbalanced economy which lead to the major issues in the former Soviet Union, and ultimately it's downfall. People waiting in lines for six hours for a loaf of bread, meanwhile the rich buying up the countries infrastructure and selling its access back to the people at a premium. Is that what we want for this country? Supply and demand only works in a balanced and fair economy, not a free for all.

[BigAls87Z28]

Neither side is doing ****, but the reps sure as hell aint going to change status quo. Dems are coming up to the wrong answers of questions no one asked.
How do you stop us from using oil? I know, lets jack up the MPG ratings of cars so that people will be forced to drive small POS's that have 2 cyl engines. Good one!
Both sides are to blame, but the way that the oilcompanies have a way of doing what they want are 100% in the hands of the people that had oil ties.

[LS1Hawk]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Oh, people keep blaming Bush for this...hmmm....what has big mouth Pelosi and her Democrat Congress done to help change things? Nothing but whine.

The average price of gas between 2000 and 2006 went from $1.60 to around $2.50, $.90 increase over six years. From then on it's gone from $2.50 to $4.13, a $1.63 increase in only two years. Is it a coincidence that we've seen our largest increases since Pelosi and the Dems took control? At this point I don't care who it is, but someone needs to do something, because if it continues this way, we can be paying near $9.00/gal by 2010.

[sweetbmxrider]

last september was about $2.50/gal....

[SteveR]

Another thing to think about; isn't it a coincidence that the oil companies are reporting record profits at the same time gas is selling for record highs?

[qwikz28]

Originally Posted by SteveR

Another thing to think about; isn't it a coincidence that the oil companies are reporting record profits at the same time gas is selling for record highs?

supply and demand i say.

and i believe exxon is selling off all their stations because it is more profitable to focus their resources on refining.

[SteveR]

Originally Posted by qwikz28

supply and demand i say.

and i believe exxon is selling off all their stations because it is more profitable to focus their resources on refining.

double the demand? What, did we all just decide over the last 12 months that we were going to commute to Alaska everyday?

[r0nin89]

Originally Posted by bubba428

3.79 at sunoco here...South FTMFW!!!!!!

**** YOU

ok sorry

<---- jealous. I just paid 3.91 and that was exciting.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by SteveR

double the demand? What, did we all just decide over the last 12 months that we were going to commute to Alaska everyday?

Not us, he's talking world wide, which is true. These profits being discussed aren't just US profits, it's world wide.

You didn't hear anyone complaining when gas was less than a buck, that's the world of Capitalism.