Gashostage.com

A subscriber to the site passed along this little gas related joke.  All I can say is… it is so true.

Check it out

Cant afford my gasoline

Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, delivered a stinging criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s rule, warning the Kremlin against using gas and oil supplies as “tools of intimidation and blackmail” and accusing the Russian authorities of “unfairly” restricting the rights of their citizens.
It was the strongest public rebuke made by a senior American official of Russia’s growing authoritarianism and its increasing willingness to employ energy policy for political ends.
Are you kidding me?  Dick, are you serious?  Maybe you should worry about your own transgressions against the American public with respect to helping Oil and Gas companies hold us all “Hostage” with gas and energy.  Dick, worry about our country first!

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Tuesday May 2^nd  that high gasoline prices which have skyrocketed to a near record are a “crisis” for Americans.
“It is a crisis in the sense of the individual,” Bodman told reporters after a meeting with Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. “American families are hurting.”
With gasoline prices above $3 a gallon in many U.S. cities, pump prices have been the main topic of discussion on both sides of Congress as lawmakers fretted that voters will vent their rage at high pump prices in the upcoming November elections.
The record price for gasoline is $3.07 a gallon that was hit after Hurricane Katrina disrupted fuel supplies last September. Nationwide, gasoline pump prices averaged $2.92 a gallon last week, according to government figures.
President Bush last week ordered a probe into potential price profiteering and suspended putting oil into the U.S. emergency stockpile.
Senate Republicans have proposed giving U.S. taxpayers a $100 check to offset high gasoline prices, and suspending some federal taxes.
Naimi, also speaking with reporters, added that the U.S. plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies through renewable energy sources was “a good thing for the world” as some oil fields, including the North Sea fields, decline.
Funny that U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman is just now realizing that oil prices are too high.  Is it just me, or are the politicians just making noise now to sound like they care about the average person?  Talking about the problem is only step one.  Step up to the plate and start offering solutions I say.  Talking is not helping our pocket books.  Talking is not getting results and people are not stupid enough to think favorably about a political leader because he can talk!  Show me the money to coin a phrase.

Crude-oil prices dropped below $69 a barrel Monday on rising U.S. gasoline supplies and a letter from Iran’s leader to President Bush proposing “new solutions” to escalating tensions.   The possibility of diplomacy allayed some of the market’s fear that Iran, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ No. 2 producer, could cut supplies because of international pressure to modify its nuclear program. That fear has helped boost the price of oil to record levels in recent weeks.
 Light, sweet crude for June delivery lost $1.49 to $68.70 a barrel in late morning trading Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had lost about $4 last week.
  Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York, said he expects the pullback in oil futures to lower pump prices, driving them down to about $2.60 to $2.70 in the coming weeks.
 The average U.S. price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $2.902 on Monday, down half a cent from a day earlier, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report.
  

“It’s good news for Average Joe this week,” Flynn said. “Refiners seemed to be getting things turned around last week … In the near term, prices are going down.”
 June Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures shed $1.28 to $69.67 a barrel.
  Gasoline futures fell nearly 5 cents to $1.992 a gallon, while heating oil prices slipped more than 2 cents to $1.929 a gallon. Natural gas prices lost 16.5 cents to $6.61 per 1,000 cubic feet.
 Venezuela’s oil minister added to potential concerns about oil supplies, saying Monday that OPEC is not likely to decide on a production increase at its June 1 meeting in Venezuela because the group has little additional capacity it can summon.
  

“There is not much OPEC can do,” said Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez in a television interview in Caracas.
 Other concerns affecting the market include some 500,000 barrels per day of Nigerian production, most of it operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, that remains off-line because of violence there, and more than 300,000 barrels per day still shut down in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Katrina battered offshore platforms in August.
   Prices have fallen more than $6 from their intraday peak of $75.35 reached April 21 on the Nymex, but remain roughly 40 percent higher than a year ago.
 Question is this, when does “Joe Average” see relief at the gas pump?  My guess… after summer. 

April 27, 2006 · Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest oil company, reports that higher oil prices drove its first-quarter profit up 7 percent from the prior year. Net income rose to $8.4 billion, from $7.86 billion in the same period a year ago.  During this quarter Exxon announced that it would be paying a retirement package to Chairman Les Raymond in and around $400 million dollars.  Although Exxon’s net earnings fell below some analysts’ expectations, they still gave the Texas-based oil giant the fifth-highest quarterly profits ever recorded by a publicly-traded company. 

The latest earnings report followed a record-breaking fourth quarter of 2005 for Exxon Mobil. The company racked up a profit of $10.7 billion for the quarter, the highest quarterly figure for any company in history, and took in net earnings of $36.13 billion for the year.

The first-quarter net income represented $1.37 a share, up from $1.22 a share a year ago. But analysts were expecting even higher profits, and the company’s stock price dipped this morning as a result.

Instead of $8.4 billion in profits for the first quarter, some analysts had predicted that Exxon Mobil would earn up to $9.27 billion.

Total revenues came to $88.98 billion in the first quarter, the company reported, compared to $82.05 billion a year ago. Although Exxon Mobil’s earnings from exploration and production of oil and gas rose from last year’s levels, profits from its refining and chemical businesses fell somewhat.

This is just another case where we have to wonder where the line is finally going to be drawn.  When does it end?  How many billion in profit is enough?  When do we, the consumer, finally feel a break at the pumps?  In short, I would suggest, never.  Gas prices are going to continue to rise, gas and oil companies are going to continue to make ridiculous levels of profit until the people of this planet stop them. 

Another question has been put forward to us that make us ponder how ruthless the oil companies are.  In Australia, it is not uncommon for service stations to increase their gas prices Thursday evening for the weekend traffic rush and then lower it again on Monday morning.  In Canada and the US, it is common for gas prices to increase on the Thursday before a long weekend.  Typically these gas increases go up each long weekend by at least a couple of cents and decrease by 50% of the increase following the holiday.  By the end of summer gas prices reach a new all time high.  Its bad enough that every time a country that deals in Oil is mentioned negatively in the news, or some natural disaster takes place that oil companies jump at the chance to increase prices, now they do it just before we visit family and friends for the holidays.  You watch, oil companies operate like clockwork, as prices increase the deeper you get into summer as the holidays pass… remember we predicted it here first.

Oil companies are ruthless, and you can’t tell me that gas stations alone are responsible for these increases.  It is a corrupt monopoly that takes advantage of the system to put the screws to the every day worker.

ABC News

Oil companies are profitable there is no question.  They retain many accountants and lawyers to come up with schemes like the “retirement package” mentioned above to reduce the profits that they have to claim.  How many more schemes are they putting in place that the media miss?  Want to bet the media misses more then they catch? 

It is you and I, the common worker, who lose in this economic battle.  We continue to pay higher gas prices so that fat cats can sit back in the lap of luxury and take the 400 million dollar handouts that the oil companies toss around like chump change.

US President George W. Bush has warned rising oil prices will mean a “tough summer” for US consumers as the high cost of gasoline (petrol) showed signs of becoming a big political issue.

Consumers are starting to show discontent, but Bush admits there is little his government could do in the short term about the problem.

“We’re going to have a tough summer because people are beginning to drive now during tight supply,” Bush said as he toured a California facility developing hydrogen-powered vehicles.

“The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here.”

Bush spoke after a week of unremitting rises in prices in global crude oil markets and at gasoline (petrol) pumps across the country. Crude topped a record 75 dollars per barrel in New York trading Friday, five dollars up from a week earlier.

At the same time, US retail pump prices were topping an average three dollars a gallon (3.8 liters) in many places in the country, up 60 cents — 33 percent — from a year ago.

The sharp rises on the eve of the US summer, during which millions of people fly or drive on holiday, may be a sign of price gouging and may become a major political issue Bush claims his government was making efforts to protect consumers from price-gouging, he said there was little he could do in the short term to alleviate the impact of higher oil prices.

“We’ve got a real problem when it comes to oil. We’re addicted, and it’s harmful for the economy, and it’s harmful for our national security,” he said.

“I understand the folks here, as well as other places in the country, are paying high gas prices.

“The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here,” he said, referring to escalading oil demands in the booming economies of India and China.

Bush also blamed the higher prices on a shortage of refinery capacity in the United States, and also on an ongoing shift in fuel additives and mixes that has caused supply hiccups in certain areas.

“When that price of gasoline goes up, it hurts working people. It hurts our small businesses. And it’s a serious problem we’ve got to do something about. The federal government has a responsibility, by the way, to make sure … there is no price gouging,” he added.

While the oil companies deny any manipulation, public confidence was eroded at the recent report that exiting Exxon Mobil executive Lee Raymond was getting a 400 million dollar retirement package.

Lately, while filling up at the gas station I have been noticing signs on the gas pump stating that the service station is only making 2% profits on my gas purchase. Only making 2%, are you serious? I find this very hard to believe. Why would anyone open a gas station? If I can make 4.5% just having my money sitting in the bank why in the world would I open a gas station? With companies like Exxon making record profits in 2005, in excess of 36 billion, I have to believe that the service station is earning more than 2 percent! As a business person, the economics of owning a service station while only making 2% profits would suggest a failed business plan, and yet there are gas stations everywhere. How often do you drive through an intersection and find a gas station on all four corners? Don’t try and tell me they make up the money they need to stay open selling cigarettes, candy and milk, because this is simply not true!

So I guess the question that needs to be asked is this. Why put a sign up that states the government is making all the money from the gas sale? What is the motivation? I strongly believe that the government is taking too much tax money from oil, but record profits by the oil companies suggest that the government isn’t the major contributor to high prices at the pumps. Oil companies know that the general population always dissatisfied with paying taxes and the government in general, so I suggest this is simply a ploy to shift blame. Who better then the government to focus the publics attention on? Shame on the oil tycoons for playing this card, and shame on you and me, for falling for such an obviously transparent plan.

If you think this 2% profit is an accurate figure, then have a look on the stock market. There are publicly traded gas stations listed and they sure as heck make more then 2% profit!

Soaring gas prices should be a concern to every person in the world.  It is our firm belief that the major oil companies in the world are working hard to elicit the fear that gas resources are running out.  It is simply not true.  Yes, oil is becoming more difficult to find.  Yes, the oil that is remaining is more difficult to drill.  But is oil becoming scarce?  No.  These theories and many like them are being perpetrated by greedy oil companies that are looking to steal more money from that hard working folk.

What can we, the general consumer, do about the sky rocketing gas prices?

We have heard many people have suggesting a protest against the major oil companies could be affective.  We feel that positive action must be taken by the citizens of this planet, to effectively fight this unfair business practice.  A very interesting solution that could make an effective protest would be month long boycotts of specific oil companies.  Each month a randomly selected oil company would be subject to a ban.  What better way to show your disapproval of the unfair oil pricing then boycotting Chevron for example for a whole month.  Do you think the executives of Chevron might get the point if 5 million people in North America boycotted their service stations?  5 million people not buying gas, bread, milk, pops, chips, or even getting their cars washed would make a big impact.  A month long ban of all Chevron products is sure to make the big wigs take a second look at the numbers.  How many businesses can afford to have a large part of their cliental stop coming in for a whole month?

We want to hear your thoughts on this matter too.

How can oil companies justify increases in oil pricing? Oil companies are making record profits and we, the consumer, are forced to pay the price.  Can Exxon make record profits and honestly say that refining costs have gone up and prices need to go up as a result?  Have a read of this article:

“With $339.9 billion in revenue and profits of $36.1 billion, Exxon earned more than any U.S. company in history last year—more than the profits of the next four companies on the FORTUNE 500 combined.
Exxon’s return to No. 1 caps its emergence as not only the biggest but also the most powerful U.S. corporation by just about any metric. Last year it surpassed General Electric to become the most valuable U.S. company by market capitalization ($375 billion). It pumps almost twice as much oil and gas a day as Kuwait, and its energy reserves stretch across six continents and are larger than those of any nongovernment company on the planet.”
CNN.com