Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Oil Greed

Some thoughts on gas prices.

Most of us are saying, “not again.” We've had rise, after rise, after rise in the cost of gasoline to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in profit for the top five oil companies and they are arrogantly defiant before a congressional committee that the profits are in line with other industries.

Come on, we know, that they have to say, what they have to say, because they are employees of their companies, but do they think we are that stupid? Apparently we are for we have yet to collectively stand up to giants of greed. Do they think that congress is that stupid, apparently they do or they know that some of our elected representatives are in the pocket of the big five oil companies via campaign contributions.

Oil industry explanations include the old law of supply and demand saying gasoline is in short supply and demand is high. Industry executives cite all sorts of reasons to justify the gouging of the American gas consumer.

Hogwash comes to mind. Nothing in the law of economics can justify four dollars or more a gallon of gas. The current gouging has nothing to do with the pristine science of economics or even the mundane yin yang of supply and demand. It has do to with a far older human condition: Greed!

Greed is an attack on the decency of common living. Until fairness is the rule, fairness in profit, fairness in value, the consumer both here and abroad will continue to be ripped off by the insensitivity and unadulterated greed of the oil companies.

The gas consumer sits back with a hose in the gas tank and says "woe is me".

Want to do something?

Boycott one company! Pick Exxon/Mobil for instance. They import Arab oil so that's a reasonable start. If all of us stopped going to Exxon/Mobil for one month and bought our gas elsewhere, what do you think Exxon/Mobile will do? LOWER their prices. When they do, the others will have to follow suit to compete. In a small, but exponential way, we the consumer have a way to fight back. Try it! I am!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rolland,

I'm really enjoying your new blog.

I got this email the other day. Maybe you'll be interested. Is it all accurate information? I have no idea. WDYT?

Sue



TIPS ON PUMPING GAS
I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in
California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..
Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades.
We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.
Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the groundtemperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon, or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol, and other petroleum products plays an important role.
A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.
One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof.
This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.
Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!
WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON
Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.
An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels
Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If
you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION!
(oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco..................0 barrels
Conoco..................0 barrels
Sinclair.................0 barrels
B P/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess.......................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels
If you go to Sunoco.com , you will get a list of the station locations near you.
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

 
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