Gas prices and Hummers

[fireguzzi]

Just out of morbid interest what are petrol prices over there at the moment...

Here in Ga we are usually slightly below the national avg. Right now prices are between $2.95/gallon to $3.06/gallon. Rumors of going up to about $5 over the summer have been circulating for about a month.

[Gummiente]

Rumors of going up to about $5 over the summer have been circulating for about a month.

I am normally not one for conspiracy theories, but I firmly believe the oil companies themselves start these "rumours" months in advance of a price hike to get people resigned/desensitised enough so there will be little resistance when it actually (and inevitably) happens. There have been three Parliamentary Inquiries (an official government investigation on behalf of its citizens) in Canada that I know of where the intent was to find out if there was evidence of price fixing and unwarranted price hikes by the oil companies operating here; in all three investigations they apparently found "no evidence" of this. Which, IMO, is pure bullshit. The government gets too much revenue from gasoline taxes and the last thing they want to do is bite the hand that feeds them, so they just roll over and play dead.

[V4max]

I agree with the resigned/desensitized theory, remember when fuel hit $0.85 a liter? Everyone thought it was outrageous, now people line up for $1.00 a liter thinking it is a deal . What do you do though, everyone needs fuel.

[HYPERR]

It's more ridiculous what people pay for bottled water, much more than gas!

[Gummiente]

It's more ridiculous what people pay for bottled water, much more than gas!

True, that. But if bottled water prices tick you off, at least you have the option to use and carry your own tap water. Can't do that with gas.

[sunshine229]

Rumors of going up to about $5 over the summer have been circulating for about a month.

I am normally not one for conspiracy theories, but I firmly believe the oil companies themselves start these "rumours" months in advance of a price hike to get people resigned/desensitised enough so there will be little resistance when it actually (and inevitably) happens.

Oh no, please don't hate on oil companies, some of us have pay cheques that depend on these companies!!!

[ofblong]

Rumors of going up to about $5 over the summer have been circulating for about a month.

I am normally not one for conspiracy theories, but I firmly believe the oil companies themselves start these "rumours" months in advance of a price hike to get people resigned/desensitised enough so there will be little resistance when it actually (and inevitably) happens.

Oh no, please don't hate on oil companies, some of us have pay cheques that depend on these companies!!!

hard not to when you have a former CEO go on the news and say the oil companies WANT gas to hit $5/gallon (us) and will make it happen. Also hard not to when they are quoting record profits year in and year out. I cant blame anyone for working for a company like that but when all you hear about is greed of "upper" management its hard not to bash on the oil companies. I mean when they have a record profit of 10 billion dollars in a year somethings just not right.

[sunshine229]

A bit of a late reply...but...

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that rx companies make more profits percentage wise than oil companies do. Yet oil companies get all the bashing because the dollar figure is higher than any other industry (even though the percentage of profit is less).

Just want to say that "petrol" costs in London where we live are at £1.30 per litre right now... That's like $2.10 US/CDN per litre or about $8 per gallon!!!

[Gummiente]

A bit of a late reply...but...

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that rx companies make more profits percentage wise than oil companies do.

Nope. That dubious honour is shared by the oil companies and the insurance industry. Pharmaceuticals are a distant third.

[High_Side]

Having just spent the last week in a communist country, I have to say that business for profit is a good thing. If you think that oil companies make too much money, start your own. Seriously. Many have done just that in Alberta and gotten incredibly rich. Many more have completely lost their shirts. They take the risks and sometimes they pay off. Do they charge too much? They charge what they can get. It's a business, who wouldn't? When you work for a wage do you try to get the most that you can, or do you take less because it seems like the right thing to do? Why complain when others do the exact same thing??????

It's a free market economy and it's MUCH better than the alternative.