- Joined
- Mar 11, 2006
- Messages
- 96,116
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- 33,462
- Location
- SE Virginia
- Gender
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- Political Leaning
- Conservative
So why are we hesitating?WTF do you expect him to do?
"Drill, baby, drill" is a long-term solution at best. Obama could open up the entire country to drilling tomorrow and it would be years before the first drop turned into gasoline.
Gas prices are not related to nor are they the responsibility of the president.
Thanks, I'm driving the only thing I can afford right now.I love when gas prices go up and those driving gas guzzlers are paying out the nose for gas. Serves you right for getting a car that has sucky gas mileage.
I was always for drilling, no matter who was president.Ahh I love this dance.
Bush is in power
Liberals: GRRR, Its Bush's Fault! FIX IT!
Conservatives: Its just the market, we need to drill
Obama is in power
Conservatives: GRRRR, its Obama's Fault! Fix it! WRONG!!! IT WAS SARCASM
Liberals: The president isn't responsible for the price and can't fix it, don't you all trust the market
You all should go onto "So you think you can dance", this hypocritical back and forth is highly entertaining though unfortunantly extremely sad.
You have proof or is it because they are doing maintenance?
What do you expect him to do? Price controls? Jimmy Carter already tried that; the results were not impressive.
So why are we hesitating?
Who is we?
You must think the oil industry is stupid. Why would they want to increase supply and drive their profits down? Hello? Drill baby drill.......but how are you going to force them to drill?
You do know how free market capitalism works don't you?
A company does not flood the market with it's products driving prices down. They don't make any money that way.
IIRC, nobody is talking about forcing the oil companies to drill. The oil companies have been trying to drill in these locations for years, but the government has not given them permission to do so. Should the government give them permission, I think it's a foregone conclusion that they will drill.
Given the margin on oil, I don't think it's even possible for an increase in supply on this scale to reduce profits. Even if the price of oil drops $5/barrel (huge overestimate), the profit per barrel * the number of barrels recovered will more than make up for it.
At 5 bucks a barrel everyone in the biz or invested would be bankrupt and there would be no drilling going on. Do you realize how much those rigs costs?
I meant if the price dropped by $5/barrel, sorry.
You think US Big Oil is buying oil at $70/barrel or selling it at $70/barrel?Who is we?
You must think the oil industry is stupid. Why would they want to increase supply and drive their profits down? Hello? Drill baby drill.......but how are you going to force them to drill?
You do know how free market capitalism works don't you?
A company does not flood the market with it's products driving prices down. They don't make any money that way.
You think US Big Oil is buying oil at $70/barrel or selling it at $70/barrel?
You do know how free market capitalism works don't you?
A company does not flood the market with it's products driving prices down. They don't make any money that way.
Right, because keeping inventory low and prices high is how Wal-Mart rode the free market to the top. Everybody knows that, right?
You do know the difference between commodities like crude oil and gasoline and a retail company like Walmart, don't you?
I think most economists would agree that politicians don't have much control over the stock market...at least in capitalist nations like ours. China is a different story.
Oil stocks are not the same as oil. Exxon can be overpriced while oil is underpriced, or vice versa.
:roll:
Price controls would not even be politically popular, as they would create shortages that would hurt consumers. Gasoline shortages were arguably one of the reasons Jimmy Carter lost his reelection bid.
You were indicting "free markets" and how they "work," not "commodities."
:shrug:
I am not indicting free markets, just showing how they work. The higher price a company can get for their product the higher their profit margin. It is simple economics. It would be disasterous for oil companies to flood the market with their product. They keep supplies tight to keep prices up. When prices start to drop they cut production.
US oil companies cut new drilling and production as soon as prices started to drop due to the recession. They are not going to drill, baby drill.
Oil companies do not think gas prices are too high, consumers do.
As for Walmart, their prices are only low compared to other retailers.
Have you seen what toilet paper at walmart is going for? Now that Walmart has forced other stores out of business in my town there is no place to compare their prices.
I am not indicting free markets, just showing how they work. The higher price a company can get for their product the higher their profit margin. It is simple economics. It would be disasterous for oil companies to flood the market with their product. They keep supplies tight to keep prices up. When prices start to drop they cut production.
US oil companies cut new drilling and production as soon as prices started to drop due to the recession. They are not going to drill, baby drill.
Oil companies do not think gas prices are too high, consumers do.
As for Walmart, their prices are only low compared to other retailers. Have you seen what toilet paper at walmart is going for? Now that Walmart has forced other stores out of business in my town there is no place to compare their prices.
No, you're describing what they could do, not how the "system works."
:
It is what they do and that is how the system works?
Do you honestly believe that oil companies only exist to supply us with cheap abundant gasoline? If they did they would not have cut production when the recession hit and demand dropped.
Big oil companies are making most of their money by producing crude oil. They invested in oil fields when prices were much lower, with the expectation that they could break even at, say, $25 per barrel. Since the market price is around $70 a barrel, the extra money is gravy. It's like a farmer who can raise corn for $1.50 a bushel. If the market price is $1.75, he makes a quarter per bushel. If the market price jumps to $2.25, his profits jump as well. (If the market crashes to $1 per bushel, the farmer loses money. That can happen to oil companies as well.) Oil companies, like the farmer, are the beneficiaries of high market prices.
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