The Price Of Oil !

[Bonnyboy]

Originally Posted by derekgas

People are as much to blame in many ways, we have all watched it happening and have sat back and allowed it, we know they always punish the smokers, drinkers and drivers, and many still do all these at the same rate they always have, granted, some people have given up smoking, and the non smokers havnt gone back drinking, but very few use the car less, or make use of one car instead of several cars, between a family.

You are right saying that we use the car more these days. In quite a few ways I think there is a need for us to use the car more though.

People work further away from home these days. I know a few couples where the hubby may work in Manchester, the wife Preston.

Shopping trips are by and large done differently these days. Weekly groceries are no longer done on a daily basis, say picking a few bits and bats up from the local shop, they mostly shut years ago. When I was young my mother and gran used to do the main shop for food at the weekend, in town and it was whatever they could fit into their shopping bags, the rest of the food bought locally through the week. Most of us take the car to the big supermarkets now and fill the car boot up

Out of town shopping centres are another relatively new thing. As are the big DIY stores, there weren’t really any of those around when I was a kid, folk tended to go to the local hardware store.

The government know all this and encourage the development of industrial estates in the middle of nowhere for us to do our shopping for Sofa‘s, electrical goods etc. Then try to price people out of their cars with a supposedly “green” tax.

It’s even being done with our hospitals now, the local ones are all but shut and these new “Super Hospitals” are being built.

Seems only logical to me that more use of the car is being made.

[cashman]

good post BB, well thought out.

[Benipete]

I have never mentioned the oil companys because like most people I don't know thier % profit or indeed how many gals.of petrol is refined from a barrel of crude and what the value of the bye-products are.All I know is that 80% of my £1 spent on petrol goes to the goverment.Money that as far as I can see is wasted on trying to be a world power when we are not,except we can afford to spend in the region of £78 billion on a new Trident defence system and roughly the same to bail out a private bank.So to conclude,its not the taxation I object to but the way it is spent.Excuse me while i have a roll up and a can from the Asda.

[Bonnyboy]

Originally Posted by cashman

good post BB, well thought out.

Thankyou cashy, good of you to say so

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by Eric

So everyone is still blaming the oil companies and government; but the real culprit is us. GM doesn't send goons to force us to buy the big gas guzzlers. It's us the consumers who have squandered the oil with the SUVs and the pickups and the minivans and now we have to pay the price. There is a positive side to all this; we are being forced into conservation, forced by high prices to do what we should have been doing years ago. Whole new industries and opportunities are opening up in the "green" sector. Wherever you drive in Canada you can notice the increase in the number of hybrid cars, particularly the Toyota Prius. The extra tax dollars our governments, federal and provincial, are collecting are being passed back to the people in the form of reduced income and sales taxes, increased govt spending on health and education, and passed directly to municipalities for infrastructure improvements. And the point that was made about low taxes in the States: what would you rather have, cheap gas or govt. funded health care?

I don’t know about Canada but the majority of car drivers over here drive cars that they bought second hand because that’s all they could afford. Or if they did manage to buy a new car it is now several years old and replacing it with a new one is not an option.

The real villain of the UK is the government starting with Thatcher and egotistical Blair. Blair for thinking that he was a world leader and wasting billions (not forgetting lives) on two illegal wars. More billions on replacing Trident when we couldn’t fire a nuke missile without US approval and permission. Even more billions on an NHS computer system that has yet to work properly. Yet even more billions on creating unnecessary Quangos, plus still going ahead with a very expensive ID card system that not only no one wants but has been shown that it will have no effect in combating terrorism. Not forgetting more billions on issuing the police with equipment and a computer system to enable them to catch Road Tax dodgers, when the most cost effective system would have been to just increase the price of petrol/diesel and dispense with the Road Tax all together.

Thatcher for destroying our manufacturing industry so that people had to seek work well away from their homes. With a public transport system that became a joke people had no alternative but to turn to a car.

But I have to agree that we the electorate, or more accurately those who did not vote, must also share some of the blame.

[LancYorkYankee]

Just a bit of clarification. First off, the price of a gallon of gas in the US stands at $4 a gallon which is "only" about 2 pounds per gallon. It's just the most current thing Americans have chosen to whinge about.

Also, I believe the average American drives about 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year which is quite a big difference from most Englishmen right? Instead of any desire to cut back on miles driven, the huge size of vehicles desired (many for merely status symbols), all kinds of fancy doodads and high over-use of their airconditioning (IMO), the lefteze wish to "go after" the big bad oil companys.

IMO, it's all about supply and demand over here. If the average American cut back just a little, we'd see our prices go down quite a bit. But again, we whinge with the whoa is me mantra and try to blame anybody but ourselves.

Brian

[BERNADETTE]

BonnyboyIt’s even being done with our hospitals now, the local ones are all but shut and these new “Super Hospitals” are being built.

With not an adequate bus service to or from them. The direct bus service from Accrington to the Royal Blackburn is diabolical from Monday to Saturday and completly non existent on Sunday!!!

[Neil]

Originally Posted by LancYorkYankee

Just a bit of clarification. First off, the price of a gallon of gas in the US stands at $4 a gallon which is "only" about 2 pounds per gallon.

Is that a US or a UK gallon. Your gallons are only 3.8 litres, ours are about 4.5.

[steeljack]

Originally Posted by LancYorkYankee

Just a bit of clarification. First off, the price of a gallon of gas in the US stands at $4 a gallon which is "only" about 2 pounds per gallon. It's just the most current thing Americans have chosen to whinge about.

Also, I believe the average American drives about 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year which is quite a big difference from most Englishmen right? Instead of any desire to cut back on miles driven, the huge size of vehicles desired (many for merely status symbols), all kinds of fancy doodads and high over-use of their airconditioning (IMO), the lefteze wish to "go after" the big bad oil companys.

IMO, it's all about supply and demand over here. If the average American cut back just a little, we'd see our prices go down quite a bit. But again, we whinge with the whoa is me mantra and try to blame anybody but ourselves.

Brian

Brian ....you are forgeting something.........it's my/our God given American right to "the persuit of happiness" just as an example, I usually drive 40 miles on Sundays to meet up with friends for brunch , and 40 miles back , Its not my fault my 4 wheel drive ( think I've used the four wheel drive once on the beach) American made pick-up truck only gets 15 mpg freeway, less if its a warm day (70 deg F) and I have to use the AC .
I followed all the rules and bought "made in America" . so now my late Sunday morning Dungeness crab omellete costs nearly $33+ tip , $24 for gas/petrol and $9 for the food , I'm not including the increase in prices at the car wash and Starbucks before I set off , Jesus (pronounced Heysous) the guy who usually does the detailng on my truck now expects at least a $4 tip ........plus , my registration tags (road tax) this year went up to $55 , (thanks Arnie), wheres it all going to end I want to know .

[entwisi]

Originally Posted by Eric

Wherever you drive in Canada you can notice the increase in the number of hybrid cars, particularly the Toyota Prius.

Probably one of teh most un-eco friendly vehicles ever made but hats off to Toyota for a stunning piece of marketing!

teh oil is there, the price rises are due to China and USA sucking most of the supply that is currently available, OPEC won't increase teh supply so are keeping it at an unnatural high level. The fact that we use X gallons a week is irrelevant, there are still huge reserves and more being found. They might be in more inhospitable places but its there all teh same.

Taxation on fuel in the UK is a total joke. Look at the state of roads in Accrington, they are disgraceful for teh amount of money we pay in road fund and fuel tax. I can take you to a major road with at least half a dozen holes in the tarmac so bad that the old cobbles are showing through. When was the last time you actually saw a road in accy being resurfaced?(and I don't mean that stupid tar and chippings thing that they do that is lethal to bikers and puts hundreds of stone chips in your pride and joys paintwork.)

[derekgas]

I have heard that the council cough up for damage to vehicles caused by potholes on a regular basis, but also heard it is 95% ethnics who make all the succesful claims, mmm!

[bullseyebarb]

Originally Posted by Eric

And the point that was made about low taxes in the States: what would you rather have, cheap gas or govt. funded health care?

Cheap gas, of course.

[bullseyebarb]

Originally Posted by LancYorkYankee

Just a bit of clarification. First off, the price of a gallon of gas in the US stands at $4 a gallon which is "only" about 2 pounds per gallon. It's just the most current thing Americans have chosen to whinge about.

Also, I believe the average American drives about 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year which is quite a big difference from most Englishmen right? Instead of any desire to cut back on miles driven, the huge size of vehicles desired (many for merely status symbols), all kinds of fancy doodads and high over-use of their airconditioning (IMO), the lefteze wish to "go after" the big bad oil companys.

IMO, it's all about supply and demand over here. If the average American cut back just a little, we'd see our prices go down quite a bit. But again, we whinge with the whoa is me mantra and try to blame anybody but ourselves.

Brian

My local gas station currently has gas for $3.79 per gallon. We haven't yet gone to $4. Our governor also signed off on some tax abatement recently. Every little bit helps.

Put me in the category of, "drill here, drill now, pay less." We have tremendous resources in the U.S......oil, natural gas, coal, shale. Unfortunately, we also have a Congress seemingly determined not to allow its citizens to utilize said resources. Talk about insanity. Yes, we do need to diversify - but this world still runs primarily on oil and we need to be pursuing that full tilt because it's going to be quite a long time before we can switch over to something else. Right now, about 95% of the world's oil is controlled by governments - most of whom are dictatorships. So we need to be as independent as possible.

As for oil company profits.....there's a difference between profit and profit margin. Their profit margin is around 8%. So even though the total profit rises due to current market prices, the profit margin stays the same. Lower than banks, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc., And certainly lower than the government takes in taxes. I am against subsidies. None of the above mentioned entities need them. They are perfectly capable of competing in the free market. The IMD Business School in Switzerland has ranked the American economy as the world's most competitive for the 15th straight year.

This is a supply and demand issue. There has also been quite a lot of speculation in the market. The bubble will burst eventually.

[steeljack]

Originally Posted by bullseyebarb

My local gas station currently has gas for $3.79 per gallon. We haven't yet gone to $4. .

$4.60 a gallon here for the cheap stuff , nearer to $5 on the other side of the Bay Bridge . Biggest problem we have on the west coast is that no off-shore drilling is allowed , most of the California and Oregon coast is classed as a "marine sanctuary" ........interesting point to note ...not one of the Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had any 'spill' problems during Katrina

[bullseyebarb]

Originally Posted by steeljack

$4.60 a gallon here for the cheap stuff , nearer to $5 on the other side of the Bay Bridge . Biggest problem we have on the west coast is that no off-shore drilling is allowed , most of the California and Oregon coast is classed as a "marine sanctuary" ........interesting point to note ...not one of the Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had any 'spill' problems during Katrina

You have my sympathy.

I love nature....but the radical environmentalists don't want us to touch ANYTHING. They sue at every turn. And, of course, nuclear isn't an option for them either. It doesn't matter to them that there were no spills in the Gulf during Katrina or that technology is so improved now that you can extract oil in more environmentally sensitive ways. Their aim is to impede free enterprise and economic growth as much as possible.....especially in the U.S. And Congress sits in its little bubble, as per usual, oblivious to the hardships endured by those who actually make this country work.

However, Americans always get what they want and if it takes $4 a gallon gas to finally get their attention, I am all for it. I believe we are going to see some changes in the not too distant future or there is going to be hell to pay.

In the meantime, I shall be cheerfully adding to my so-called carbon footprint. Flying to NY State tomorrow and will be driving around up there for a while. Already have the next two trips booked for July and September. Whoo-hoo!