Fuel prices are through the roof!

[econoboxrocks]

I just paid $4.95/gal for premium. I haven't seen gas this high since I lived in California and Bush was president.
Makes me glad I drive a Fiesta instead of some big honkin' SUV that gets half the mileage.

 

[LionsTooth]

$5.75 here in Nor Cal. Costco is about $5.45.

 

[scotman]

Regular fuel has been at $4.25 since Tuesday where I am. I fully expect that to go up.

 

[econoboxrocks]

Oil companies report the largest quarterly profits in 8 years.

"Oil companies are using the war in Ukraine as a pretext to raise gasoline prices and gouge customers. Meanwhile, they report the largest quarterly profits in eight years and openly brag about how they spend their profits on stock buybacks to shareholders.
To make matters worse, a report in Fortune Magazine shows they are not investing these profits in green energy to combat climate change as our planet burns."
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions...rofits-tax&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_1476558

 

[LionsTooth]

$5.25 at Costco yesterday.

 

[2017 Ford Fiesta SE Sedan]

When I purchased my first Ford Fiesta In April of 2011, gasoline in Orange County in New York State was averaging $4.75 for 87 octane, $4.85 for 89 octane, and $4.95 for 91 octane. Those same prices have
« resurrected » themselves today where I live. My previous Fiesta was able to get a maximum of
36 miles per gallon, while my 2017 Fiesta can get a maximum of 39 miles per gallon, It will be tough
to find a subcompact car that runs on 100% gasoline designed in Germany, engineered in the USA,
and assembled in Mexico that will beat the average of 39 mpg. If you have a Fiesta, and if you
had good luck with it, it may be a good idea to keep it for as long as you can based on gas prices.
I know I have asked this friendly question before, but how many mpg’s are each of you getting?

 

[LionsTooth]

33-35 all around....I have gotten 42 on the highway with a strong tailwind across Utah & Wyoming. Mostly around 38 on the freeway.

 

[econoboxrocks]

I average just under 30 in mixed driving. It's not really an economy car, but that's good mileage for the performance level.

 

[Handy Andy]

I get between 34MPG to a high as 41MPG - with averaging about 36 in mixed Highway and City driving.

Beats SUV's and Pickups in MPG and doesn't require a $100 Bill to fill up (yet) 12 Gal capacity and over 400+ miles range from it - beats batteries going dead and having to Plug in and let the vehicle take up to as much as a 2Kw/Hr charge rate to recoup that travel energy used. It takes time...See you in about 4 hours...I'm thinking Microwave oven and it making Popcorn - for the next four hours...

• - all us Fiesta owners have to do is stop at a "gas Station" and slide a card into a "Gas Pump" and pay <$60 to fill even an empty tank - and 15 minutes I'm able to continue escaping the Volcano/Tornado/Thunderstorm/Snowstorm or other Natural Disaster that others with Electrics will have to await for a recharge - in order to get away.

Did I mention Thunderstorms or Tornadoes - usually kill Power lines? No - oh, good luck with that...

 

[gfh77665]

Oil companies report the largest quarterly profits in 8 years.

"Oil companies are using the war in Ukraine as a pretext to raise gasoline prices and gouge customers. Meanwhile, they report the largest quarterly profits in eight years and openly brag about how they spend their profits on stock buybacks to shareholders.
To make matters worse, a report in Fortune Magazine shows they are not investing these profits in green energy to combat climate change as our planet burns."
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-big-oil-rakes-historic-profits-while-gas-prices-surge-pass-a-windfall-profits-tax-2?source=2022BigOil_DK&redirect=https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kos2022&link_id=0&can_id=c100ca601958a2f6ee6b97d7b0eb3df9&email_referrer=email_1476558&email_subject=sign-the-petition-big-oil-rakes-historic-profits-while-gas-prices-surge-pass-a-windfall-profits-tax&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_1476558

Years ago when oil first hit $100, and people and politicians were HOWLING about how the evil "big oil" companies were "making a profit", then ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said something profound:

"Everybody want us to help out and lower prices and give up some profits now, but NO ONE felt bad for us and wanted to help us out when oil was $10 a barrel."

He has a great point. Consumers love it when oil is cheap and don't care a bit when oil companies struggle, but angrily scream when prices are high and want oil companies to fix it for them. It can't work that way. Big oil can't exist that way in a free market economy. When the pendulum swings, they have to make higher profits to compensate for the lean times. I wish more people would understand this and be realistic.

 

[econoboxrocks]

Oil companies struggle? That's hilarious!
Oil is low. Oil companies are scamming us because they can, and they own most of congress. Pretending that they struggle, ever, is absurd.

 

[LionsTooth]

I don't trust anything I hear anymore. Are they making money...or not? I know that in the early 2000s I worked for an underwater ROV manufacturer that relied on selling ROVS to oil exploration companies. When oil got below $40 a barrel our orders were canceled and exploration stopped. Exploration is their future, so there is a point where they are taking a hit.

 

[econoboxrocks]

I don't trust anything I hear anymore. Are they making money...or not? I know that in the early 2000s I worked for an underwater ROV manufacturer that relied on selling ROVS to oil exploration companies. When oil got below $40 a barrel our orders were canceled and exploration stopped. Exploration is their future, so there is a point where they are taking a hit.

No. They never take a hit. Never.
"Not a penny of that $9.5 billion, however, ever made it to the people of Ecuador. Instead, Chevron weaseled their way out of the damages and launched a billion-dollar show trial against the attorney that stuck up for the indigenous people of Ecuador."
"Chevron admitted to Texaco’s dumping of 16 billion gallons of toxic waste into waterways, a regular practice for them to keep waste pits from overflowing, however, they refuse to take any legal responsibility for their actions. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/how-chevron-imprisoned-environmental-lawyer-steven-donziger/

16 billion gallons. People were poisoned and died. "“All the animals are dying from contamination because they run to the stream and drink the water.”
Texaco not only escaped any penalty, they punished the guy who tried to punish them. A billion dollars' worth of revenge.

Don't get me started on Nigeria.

 

[FiEscort]

Did gasoline prices reflect the same at the pump when a barrel of crude oil went BELOW $0 in 2020?
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=46336

 

[gfh77665]

Oil companies struggle? That's hilarious!
Pretending that they struggle, ever, is absurd.

What an IGNORANT statement. ^^^

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/18/texas-oil-prices-1980s/

https://www.chron.com/local/history...bust-left-lasting-mark-on-Houston-9195222.php

https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2020/06/1982-oil-bust-houston

https://www.nola.com/300/article_ce4d0697-8bce-5a32-bbe9-b75a46d6714d.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/back-to-the-future-oil-replays-1980s-bust-1421196361

When you see massive layoffs, companies shutting down and stock prices plummet, yeah, that's the very definition of struggling. I lived through it in the 80's.

 

[gfh77665]

Did gasoline prices reflect the same at the pump when a barrel of crude oil went BELOW $0 in 2020?

They can't. That was a temporary market displacement. Even if oil was FREE, it still costs to extract it, refine it, ship it, and vend it at a station.
Who would deliver and sell oil / gas for FREE?

Think before you type, please!

 

[FiEscort]

They can't. That was a temporary market displacement. Even if oil was FREE, it still costs to extract it, refine it, ship it, and vend it at a station.
Who would deliver and sell oil / gas for FREE?

Think before you type, please!

I never said anything about it being free. My point is that gas prices don't decrease at the same rate when the barrel prices drop, yet increase drastically when the price of a barrel goes up. The producers actually had to pay to have someone take the barrels of oil from them for that short amount of time as it cost more to keep it. Also, the oil bust of the 80's is different from our current times. We now have futures and derivative markets which increase the cost because of speculation i.e. London ICE, NYMEX, etc. And yes, big oil is using these record profits for stock buybacks, not for lean times as you claim. I do not feel sorry for big oil as time and time again, they behave in an immoral manner. P.s. yes, I do think before I type, can you believe that?

 

[gfh77665]

. And yes, big oil is using these record profits for stock buybacks, not for lean times as you claim. P.s. yes, I do think before I type, can you believe that?

Stock buy backs are a form of profits. Oil companies have good years with higher profits and bad years with little or none. when their stocks fall dramatically. Yes, now is the time they are making good profits, and some are utilized as buy backs which compensates for the bad times when stocks plummeted. There is nothing wrong or (OMG, rolling eyes) immoral about that! People can't scream about higher profits now if they didn't care when the companies were hurting so bad, and stocks had to be liquidated just so some could stay alive. You must be a Bernie type anti-capitalist.

 

[LionsTooth]

Hey, guys.....is it worth it banging off each other like this?

 

[scotman]

I think that the confusion of the consumers about the price and profit fluctuations of the petroleum industry has to do with the byzantine process of A. Exploring for it. B.extracting it. C. Refining it. And D. Distribution of the finished product. Each step of the process is multiple layers of risk , cost, regulations, logistics and long range planning and coordination. Any of the above areas would make a book if you wanted to really understand each one.
I would describe the exploration aspect as a "calculated gamble." Extraction aspect is a cost and time sensitive exercise. The refining aspect is applied science at high temperatures and pressures. Distribution and marketing are about getting the product to the right place at the right time. All of this occurs in an open "spot" market that is always fluctuating. The (retail) prices at the pump are based on the anticipated (wholesale) cost to replenish the tanks under the pumps we are swearing at as the digits flicker!
The petroleum industry is so complex and multi layered that it is generally internally divided into multiple domains that function as separate companies for exploration , extraction, refining and marketing-distrbution. One of the oil companies that I had some interaction with explained that the marketing of their products covered fifteen distinct segments covering everything from tars and heavy oils up to highly refined esters for use in the medical, pharmaceutical and plastics industries. I wish that the petroleum industry would or could better describe the nature and scope of what they do. For me personally. I have a very difficult time wrapping my head around the complexity of the industry, let alone how the price of that gallon of highly engineered 93 octane is formulated!