National GAS OUT on May 15th. Read UP!

oohhh yesss i got my dad to fill up my car for me today.... yummmmmm 12 gallons of premium gas.
 
wow thats not what i mean at all. but if you want to sit there and complain about people trying to do shit.. goooo for it.
 
I'm saying that what people are doing does not actually affect ANYTHING what so ever. Nothing. People have no idea how gasoline prices work nor how macro economics work. Even if EVERYONE in the United States was forced to participate, it wouldn't affect gas prices.
 
no... hes not...

they could just lower there prices 20 cents for the day and pretty much everyone would go fill up because they save money for ONE day. its the way this cheap country runs itself
 
You're trying to hard to be smart on this.

It's not the actual macroeconomical effect on things. It's called making a statement. When CEO's see losses for the day, they pay attention. When the largest corporations in the world don't have 1 sale in America, they pay attention. If the entire US was to do this for one week, companies like Exxon would definitely be forced to reduce their profit margin a little bit. There's plenty of ways they can do it, but why do it when there's no government regulations and nobody telling you to stop?

 
This is my goddamn job. I am an oil and gas analyst. I work 13-16 hours a day predicting the cost of oil, natural gas, gasoline and analyzing oil companies. Do you know those articles you read in magazines and newspapers on this type of shit? The ones with lots of numbers and acronyms that you don't understand? I write those.
 
Oh hey thanks for judging!

Not like my dad dealt with oil prices his WHOLE LIFE. When your income is based on making/predicting prices, not just reporting them, you tend to gain some knowledge about it...but hey they are all just numbers to me. I guess you are just the man.
 
If the entire US were to stop using gasoline for a week, the economy would come to a grinding halt. If the entire nation were to do it for a single day, the effects would be monumental. You must look at the difference between consumers and industry. You're talking about crashing the world economy, not reducing gasoline prices.

Please don't use words like "profit margin" when you don't understand what they actually mean. Use profits or income. There is a big difference.

Let me simply break it down. Prices are a factor of supply and demand. If supply stays the same, demand is the only thing driving prices. You're talking about shifting a minuscule amount of demand from one day to the day before and after. You are not talking about reducing demand, you are talking about moving it. Reducing demand for oil or gasoline is the only way that gasoline prices will drop.

What is wrong with "being smart on this"?
 
By using profit margin I was right, because I'm talking about how much the oil companies could reduce costs if they wanted to.

I never said it wouldn't crash the global economy. That's my point exactly. I was never talking about reducing gas prices, just getting industry to change the way their infrastructure is set up. Obviously less demand will lower prices, I know simple economics thanks. Profit margin is used correctly because the % of profit the oil companies are making is astounding. Thus, the percentage should be reduced. I'm sure you know profit margin is just total income divided by total revenue. The percentage that most oil companies come out with is far too high and thus can be adjusted by incurring important costs (ie reducing prices, cleaner operations, etc)

I didn't say there was anything wrong with being smart on the topic, but you had a very condescending attitude in your first post.
 
Judging by what you're trying to say I think you mean EBITDA or Operating Margin, not profit margin. Profit Margin takes into consideration such things as capital expenditures, change in net working capital and interest payments, none of which have anything to do with day to day operations.

Operating Margin: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operatingmargin.asp

If you were never talking about reducing oil prices, how did you end up in this thread? This is a thread about a cockamamy scheme to reduce oil prices.

I don't mean this in a condescending way but I probably do know a bit more about the finances and economics of the oil industry than you do. I wouldn't worry about it man.
 
Published on Sunday, June 6, 2004 by the Associated Press

Gasoline Costs 5 Cents a Gallon in Iraq Thanks to US Taxpayers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - While Americans are shelling out record prices for fuel, Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers.

Before the war, forecasters predicted that by invading Iraq and ousting Saddam Hussein, America would benefit from increased exports of oil from Iraq, which has the world's second largest petroleum reserves.

That would mean cheap gas for American motorists and a boost for the oil-dependent American economy.

More than a year after the invasion, that logic has been flipped on its head. Now the average price for gasoline in the United States is running $2.05 a gallon - 50 cents more than the pre-invasion price.

Instead, the only people getting cheap gas as a result of the invasion are the Iraqis.

Filling a 22-gallon tank in Baghdad with low-grade fuel costs just $1.10, plus a 50-cent tip for the attendant. A tankful of high-test costs $2.75.

In Britain, by contrast, gasoline prices hit $5.79 per gallon last week - $127 for a tankful.

Although Iraq is a major petroleum producer, the country has little capacity to refine its own gasoline. So the U.S. government pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off attacks by Iraqi insurgents.

The arrangement keeps a fleet of 4,200 tank trucks constantly on the move, ferrying fuel to Iraq.

"We thank the Americans," Baghdad taxi driver Osama Hashim said. "They risked their lives to liberate us and now they are improving our lives," said Hashim, 26, topping up the tank on his beat-up 1983 Volkswagen.

Iraq's fuel subsidies, which are intended to mollify drivers used to low-priced fuel under Saddam, have coupled with the opening of the borders to create an anarchic car culture in Baghdad.

Cheap used cars shipped from Europe and Asia are flooding into Iraq. A 10-year-old BMW in good condition costs just $5,000. Since gas is so cheap, anyone with a car can become a taxi driver. Drivers jam the streets, offering rides for as little as 250 dinars - about 17 cents.

Analysts say the U.S. gas subsidies can't last forever - and Iraqis may be in for an unpleasant shock when they end. In the meantime, however, the American taxpayer continues to foot a huge bill.

"The U.S. taxpayer has a right to be indignant, and Iraqis have to be warned about the long-run damages of this," said Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq analyst with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The minute the aid goes out, the party is over. And there's going to be a hell of a hangover."

The U.S. government paid even more last year for Iraqis' gasoline - between $1.59 and $1.70 a gallon - when the imports were contracted to Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The cheap fuel is spurring unsustainable demand, promoting wasteful use of energy and transportation, and squandering Iraq's oil output that might otherwise be exported, Cordesman said.

"You're leading people to buy cars that aren't affordable at normal costs," he said. "You need to move toward real market prices as quickly as you can without causing instability."

Iraqi drivers protest that the price difference between a gallon of gas in the United States and Iraq is fair, because the average Iraqi earns around $1,000 a year, a thirtieth of the average U.S. wage.

"If the price of gas goes up, we'll see lots of anger in the street," said cab driver Hashim, at a grimy filling station on Saadoun Street in central Baghdad.
 
I'm sure you do know more than me on the subject, I just don't like being talked to like I'm an idiot. Maybe you weren't trying to do that that's the impression I got. I'm really not worried about it at all.

I was simply stating it would have an effect on companies and would cause a panic if this continued for over a period of a day or even a day might cause some consideration in the corporate offices.

No, haha I'm still talking about profit margin. It will be reduced as the operating margin is increased.
 
Lets just say that we disagree. In my professional opinion, the management of oil companies do not give a damn about this protest even if it were enforced by law for a day. It simply would not affect their income statements.

Profit Margins actually increase as EBITDA increases. The way that you are using that term is incorrect from a financial standpoint. If you're using financial terms it would make sense to use them correctly.
 
Would you say then, in your oil-knowledgeable opinion, that if Americans were to stop going to a certain companies oil stations, such as exxon and shell, that they would lower their prices, and force other companies to lower their prices to stay competing? It seems like if you could bring one down, not the WHOLE industry down, that it would have a much greater effect on prices.
 
they all buy from each other..

they wouldn't lower the prices to compete, they would just buy them up when they start going under.
 
I'm just thinking, I have about a gallon of gas in my tank right now, and I have to run some errands. So I could either have bought gas yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Either way, the same amount of shit is drilled out of the ground. If no one in America bought gas today, everyone would buy it tomorrow, and they could charge way more than it was every going to be reduced. They've got every one of us completely by the balls, you're in dreamland if you think there is anything that can be done. Humans are just way too stupid to organize on a large scale.
 
WOW all I was saying was that you're shooting down people who are trying to stand up and make a statement.... I don't think it's too hard to realize that it won't actually drop prices that much if anything at all ever.

And no... I'm not trying to sound smart... I just like supporting people on ideas that make sense. If that makes sense.

Let's allll.... freak out!!!
 
But why waste time on a statement that has no chance of working when you could go and spend that time doing something to help fix the problem? Not using gas for a day, week or month would be a much more effective statement than just changing the day you buy your gas from Tuesday to Wednesday.
 
no... the statement isnt the not pumping gas part.. thats the action.

the statement is that gas prices are unreasonably high and something needs to be done about it.
 
i had a guy from Saudi on my floor in residence first year and we would kick his ass all the time because his dad works high up in OPEC
 
If I was a gas company CEO, I wouldn't be viewing this as much of a statement since it doesn't really do anything other than shift when people are buying their gas. And it definitely doesn't send the message that you won't tolerate high gas prices, because you're just going to go out the next day and buy gas at those high prices anyway. Not buying gas for one day does not decrease consumption or even make a dent in profits, so it really isn't saying anything. Like I said, if you really want to make a statement, do it by working to decrease your gas consumption or by donating to alternative fuels research.

I'm so glad this sad attempt at a boycott is almost past us now. I'm sick of hearing people try to argue that this will actually do anything.
 
well first of all im not arguing its a worthless attempt in any way.

allllll i initially said was that people should be more positive and not hate on the efforts.. no matter how pointless they are.

I'm sorry that I don't jump on people like dogs and hate hate hate hate hate.

but yes... lets just end this thread please.
 
it doesnt matter if people stop buying gas for one day cause they will just make up for it the next day or the next week. Oil executives could care less when the money comes in as long as it does come in eventually. I guess its a good point but it will never solve anything.
 
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