Gas Boycott?

[2336]

Folks,
About a month ago I received an e-mail from a friend in Canada that suggested a fuel bocott to let the oil companies know that people are fed up. He said that there was a grassroots movement building momentum for what he called a "Gas out" from the 7th to the 9th of April. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a world renowned economist but I feel that the oil companies need to know that their manipulation of the fuel prices has gotten out of hand. I, for one, will not buy a single drop of fuel from the 7th to the 9th of April!!! If you agree with me then please spread the word, if you don't agree with me then please speak your peace just keep it clean (this is still a family oriented forum plus you might hurt my widdle feelings) seriously though, do you folks think that this will make the oil companies notice our displeasure or will this backfire? I think it will make them sit up and take notice! If you agree please let as many people as possible know and get them on the bandwagon too! I'd rather walk or ride a bike than to make the oil tycoons rich. Let's hear your opinions, thanks!

RGR



[This message has been edited by 2336 (edited 04-02-2000).]

[2336]

C'mon folks - I know you're as fed up about fuel prices as I am! Let's hear some opinions!

[seti]

I've gotten that e-mail fwd atleast a dozen times in the last 2 years.

[NavyDood_ F/A18_Mech]

I am as fed up with the gas prices as the next person. CA ppl are paying 2.29 a gal for premium.

But the gas out will not do any good. If ppl do do it, they will buy the day before the gas out, and the day after the gas out is supposedly over. The gas stations will still make their money. And the oil companies will still get their money. Either way it's a no win situation.

The Arabs are sitting over there in the middle east sitting back and laughing while they roll the dough in, dbl of what they were making last year at this time.

Jim

[This message has been edited by NavyDood_ F/A18_Mech (edited 04-02-2000).]

[bdog]

I also recieved one of those emails, and it just won't work. I will make it clear from the start that I have worked in the oil & gas industry for several years, as well as I am currently in college studying to be a geophysicist. The reason that the "gas out" will not work is that there will be no decrease in the demand. Sure, no one will buy gas that week, but they will buy twice as much the week before or twice as much the week after. Unless you want to stop driving you are going to have to live with the prices. The majority of the people simply don't understand how the oil and gas markets work. There are serious lag times in prices. There is a lot of hedging that goes on. Companies are producing and getting paid last years prices for it. Believe me domestic companies are producing as much as they can. The problem is that demand is outpacing supply. OPEC is increasing there production slighty, and it should help a bit, but I still bet we see $2 a gallon this summer. I don't think that we will completely run out of oil in our lifetimes, but I am almost positive that its supply will become reduced to a point that we have to change our lifestyles.

[bdog]

Another thing that make me mad, is that people don't realize what a gallon of gas is worth. I mean a gallon of gas will move you car uphill 15 to 30 miles for under two dollars. Try pushing it that far and see if the two dollars is worth it.

Costs below are for a barrel (42 gallons)
Coca Cola : $78.73
Milk : $126.00
Evian Water : $189.90
Orange Juice : $251.16
Snapple : $267.12
Perrier Water : $328.67
Lemon Oil : $390.88
Crisco Oil : $435.12
Scope Mouthwash : $826.65
Sunflower Oil : $971.04
Olive Oil : $1,324.38
Real Maple Syrup : $1,787.52
Sesame Oil : $2,535.61
Jack Daniels Bourbon : $4,133.26
Tannin Oil : $4,290.05
Visine Eye Drops : $32,202.24
Flonase Prescription Nasal Spray : $238,133.21
And, as of 3/31/00
West Texas Intermediate Crude : $24.25

[OuTpaTienT]

Gas boycotts are bogus. They don't work. If people do support it, what are they gonna do during the boycott? Go without gas? haha. I don't think so. They'll just fill up before hand.

The same amount of gas gets used. It will have absolutely NO effect on the oil companies what-so-ever. Seems like a silly idea to me.

[hd581]

bdog: The price of gas is worth less than $2 to most of us. If it becomes outrageous, we'll come up with alternatives. What's running water worth to us? I don't think I could live w/ out a high pressure shower but if it got cut permanently I'd bath in the lake.

Why did the oil companies stop at $2 a gallon? Why not make it $20 a gallon? Or $200?

[Target]

The only way to really make oil producing companies take notice is to come up with an alternative fuel source..... until someone does so, we'll forever be at the mercy of those nations/companies.

[Apostle 83]

I was watching a car show yesterday (I know NOTHING about cars) and there was a new dodge out, 4 door that looked like a sports car, and it ran on natural gas....

[Dominus]

U.S. Current Daily Crude Oil Consumption = 75,000,000 barrels

Cost per barrel = approx $24.50

Money lost by Oil Co. due to "Gas-Out" = $3,675,000,000


I dunno. If I lost 3.7 billion, I might get a bit concerned over it.

[jadison]

I also received the same E-mail from a friend out in Morth Texas fowarded to about a 100 other people...personally I don't see a positive outcome from this boycott...if there were to be a group effort to speak out against this price increase and try to find other economical ways of fuel then I think that would be worthwhile. All my life I've read magazines, newspapers, books, etc. mentioning new ideas for fuel: solar powered energy (it never caught on), electric powered (not too popular...why?), natural gas (?), even H2O. As well as countless others. The question is why have we come to rely so much on a source of fuel that is not only harmful to our planet but is also in limited resource?

My thought is that in the near future, when we've established the completion of the ISS, we will begin to search for sources of fuel on other planets, moons, asteroids(in our Solar System). I know there's a hidden source of fuel that's just waiting for us to find.
But until that day...we need to put more effort into exploring other methods of economical & Earth-friendly fuels.

-jd-

[Dominus]

Not that I actually believe the Oil companies will lose money, but I thought the point of the gas out was to _not_ use gas on those 2 days. Therefore there would be no need to buy more.

I despise Oil and gas companies. There are so many much better ways of fueling our society, but since they would infringe on profit, no one wants to pursue them. The best example of this is fusion power. A bucketfull of water could power a city for a day, but since it's not profitable enough, barely anyone it working towards making it a reality.

[Nathan]

Yea, how did you figure out that they'll lose about $3.675 billion?

[Dominus]

They'd only lose that if _NO_ oil products whatsoever were purchased on those 2 days. But since thats basically impossible, they aren't going to lose near that much.

It's just going to seem like another slow weekend to them. They might lose $20 or so. Maybe.

[sparki]

hey i dont know the price a gallon but over here in the uk its about 80 pence a litre. That includes the +85% tax imposed on it by the gouvverment to fill my car cost nearly £50.!!!!

[wyvrn]

If the gas prices stay where they are at, and even rise as reserves dry up, companies will be forced to figure out alternative sources of fuel. There have been other sources like electric cars, solar power, and natural gas for some time, but the oil and gas industry has too much lobbying power in congress, keeping some very valuable technologies from getting the right funds so they can mature. Electric cars are really expensive now, and they do not meaure up to what we expect from an automobile. Therefore, Americans (and other countries) are going to continue to drive gas powered vehicles.

I do not think it will be until we are seriously threatened with lack of oil reserves that legislation will be made requiring alternative fuel cars on the market. If we wait too late to develop these alternative technologies, they will be ultra expensive to buy when the time comes. Hence, a lot of us may be using more buses and trains then before http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif I for one hope production electric vehicles are more in the mainstream, and cheaper, before we run out of oil. Any reserves the US has are only going to last so long. And while other countries are pouring crude out by the millions of barrels, the supply has to end somewhere. In the meantime, it gets harder and harder to find, which means more expensive to everyday users.

[OuTpaTienT]

D, what are you talking about? They are NOT going to lose that money. They will make more money on the days prior to and after any "gas out". The SAME amount of gas will be used and it will have NO effect on the oil companies what-so-ever.