Thread: Gas 3.50 a gallon?!?!?!

Originally Posted by Tractorpull

Originally Posted by dex71

We havn't built a refinery since 1971
We are currently producing 27 different blends of unleaded gas to satisfy different states laws
The oil companys average about 8 cents a gallon profit
The government (who doesn't have to look for it,pump it out the ground,ship it,refine it,get it to a store,or sell it)makes 40 cents plus per gallon
China is drilling in the gulf of Mexico
There is more oil in Alaska than in Saudi Arabia
60% of our imported oil comes from Canada(in fact we are also importing refined gas as well because we cant keep up on the refining end)
Corn makes better food than it does as a gas alternative(takes more energy to produce than it saves.....much like cfl light bulbs)

The answer is pretty simple.....
Make use of OUR natural resources(like the rest of the world does)
build some new refinerys
get the states together and maybe do 5 or 6 blends instead of 27
if the polititions who dragged the oil companys really cared about the consumer.....why havent they dropped their outrages taxes?

We don't need new refineries, we don't need to produce more gasoline, we need to produce more crude.

Less blends would help some, but not much.

Those government taxes pay for you Highways, don't like the taxes, drive through the woods. Roads are expensive.

Once you are 10 miles out...or was it 7, I can't remember....regardless, most of the gulf is International Waters, its fair game. Nothing we can do about China being there. Unless we want to spark the First Petroleum World War early.

we don't need to produce more gasoline,

We don't need to produce more gasoline!!? Are you f-in kidding!? In even the simplest supply and demand terms what do you think price does when supply goes up? Alternative sources of energy are great...dont get me wrong...BUT THE WORLD RUNS ON GAS.As soon as there is a viable(not government subsidised)alternative fuel..I'll be the first on board.The FACT is there isnt...not even close.We do need to look into other sources of energy for the future...but for now THE WORLD RUNS ON GAS!!And as long as we are here THIS (finding alternative energy sources)IS NOT THE RESPOSIBILITY OF THE OIL COMPANIES!!Did we tell Alexander Graham Bell that his phone was nice,but,we need him to find yet another way to communicate?In other words...we seem to be telling the oil companys to come up with a product that puts oil companys out of business!?

We produce plenty of gasoline. The thing that is driving gas prices up is the high crude oil prices. 10 years ago, crude oil was around 20 bucks a barrel. Gas was a dollar a gallon. Now, crude is over 100 bucks a barrel, and gas is 3.50. Do you see that pattern. There is plenty of gasoline on the market, and the demand is going down, and will continue to go down while we switch to alternative fuels. If we really had a supply problem with gasoline, you wouldn't be able to fill up your car at the pump. The simple fact of the matter is that is costs more to make gasoline now. If it takes you 3 dollars to make a gallon of gas now (and these aren't actual prices, just an example), there is no way in hell they would let it go out of the plant for a buck fifty. No matter how much of the stuff there was. They would just store it, stop refining for a while, and sell the stockpile. Its simple business.

And I totally agree with you though, we need good alternative energy sources. And we need them soon. Things could get ugly within a few years. But here's another thing.

The next great war may be fought over oil, but the one after that will be over water. With the population explosion that has happened on this planet, we are simply running out of drinking water. An even more frightening prospect. Some say that we are trending back to a stable population or even a population decline in the next hundred years. Attributed to western living with an average of less than 2 children per household in most of the world. Others say the population will continue to grow. I honestly don't know who is right, but its a scary thought.

Roads are expensive, but yes it does go into the general fund and that isn't right. I agree on that. And yes, we haven't built a brand new refinery in about 30 years. You are absolutely right. But that doesn't reflect upgrades done to existing refineries. Refining is a distillation process. Its a constant process. If you want to make more gasoline, upgrade your distillation tower and a few more things, and voila, more output. It isn't cheap, but a lot cheaper than building a brand spanking new refinery. And yes, they can, and they have done it.

But they havn't done it.There hasn't been a new one built in 38 years.Making the existing ones bigger is fine,but building 2 is twice as good.The oil companys WANT to build more refineries.They do a "volume" business.The more they put out the more they make.

The crude oil prices are high because we (the US)have lowered our production in the last 30 years.We now buy more foreign oil than ever(60% coming from Canada).It doesn't have to be that way.We have the oil! Let us drill(again the oil companys want to do this),and the price of crude will go down.More supply...price drops.


As for the water thing...I think its much ado over nothing.The earth is 60% water.True that most of it is salt water and right now we don't have the technology to de-salinate it on a massive scale,but thats just because we dont have to.Theres no money in it now....but when (and if)there is...someone will come up with it.Never underestimate the power of the dollar.

Thank God for Public Transportation, 150$ every 6th months gets me anywhere I need to go

hmmmmm.

To solve the worlds oil problems....hmmmm.

#1. all coal and natural gas/fossil fuel power needs to be converted to nuclear power, immediately. All resources from those industries should be diverted into oil production (drilling). Stop trading with any OPEC member. They won't sell us oil....fine. We stop shipping them USA bags of rice, chartiy, and arms sales. Canada and Russia aren't OPEC...we ca buy plenty from them till we starve out the lesser OPEC nations. Easy solution.

#2. Build about 50 new oil refineries. gas supply being short no longer is an issue. And if it costs $100,000,000 to make a new refinery up to current EPA specs....fine. Exxon makes 10,000,000,000 a quarter in profit......so tell them to fuck themselves, and build a refinery.

#3. Find something better than gas. bigdog did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Ke1VWhZJA

I spend at least $400 a month on gas commuting to and from work. And that's in my 25+mpg car. A hybrid with 30 or 40mpg isn't the answer. The answer is George Jetson style, real deal about fucking time future tech like the aptera. 300+ miles to the gallon, 120 miles on electricity alone (meaning....I can go to and from work....70 miles....without using gas....EVER), costing $2 or $3 a night in ELECTRICITY WHICH SHOULD BE READILY AVAILABLE MOST ESPECIALLY WHEN THE WORLD USES NUCLEAR POWER AS THE PRIMARY MEANS OF PRODUCTION

That's 3 birds in one stone. A big "fuck OPEC/middle east/terrorists benitting from my oil money, fuck Exxon and their ridiculous ass profits and price gouging, and ...I guess do the environment a favor and stop producing carbon waste that isn't necessary.

Car retails at $26,000. That's an easy $400 a month car payment, meaning I use the gas money I'm no longer spending to PAY FOR MY CAR PAYMENT.

Stop being a part of the problem. Fuck OPEC, fuck Exxon, and save the world. In that order.

www.aptera.com

I'm not kidding.....that's my next car. Or something in that class.

haha, when he was done with the test drive and he was talking about how quick the car is, he said "Step on the gas..."

Thats awesome.

Question.

Can they make one that doesnt look like a retarded egg?

Lol, that thing looks odd.... Although, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it on the road. Only 120miles per charge? That's kinda weak. What about people who commute for work... Where are they suppose to plug in once they arrive at the job?

Originally Posted by Rooster050

Lol, that thing looks odd.... Although, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it on the road. only 120miles per charge? That is kinda weak. What about people who commute for work... Where are they suppose to plug in once they arrive at the job?

you obviously didn't watch the video.

120 on electricity alone. In the hybrid version, the gas gives you 300 mpg, and somewhere in the 1000+ mile range.

Are you saying you commute more than ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES every day to work? I don't believe that.