gas going up to $4.00/gallon!

[Teknophreak]

People keep saying Exxon reports record profits. Big difference between gross profit and net profit. You might want to look into net profit before you point to the oil companies........You hear what a certain political party wants you to hear, which I won't go in to.

"Exxon's profit for the year was also the largest annual reported net income in U.S. history, according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst for Standard & Poor's. He said the previous high was Exxon's $25.3 billion profit in 2004."
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060130/earns_exxon_mobil.html?.v=6

OK, and your point would be? Both parties are reacting to public demand for action - that's politics. The root of the problem remains the same - oil isn't going to last forever.

 

[MHS216]

It's simple supply and demand. People have oil. People want oil. If no one wants oil, no one will be able to sell oil for $4 a gallon. Since people want more and more oil every day and are willing to pay $3+, the people with oil are going to raise, and raise till they get to the tipping point. Meaning the exact price of oil where there is no longer demand.

I know this isn't possible or realistic, but if you want oil prices to rise, just keep buying gas

 

[atomoverride]

all I got to say is that this GTI I bought is way better than that gas guzzling gmc truck I used to own.

 

[Wantagti]

The net profit margin is 8-10%, is that obscene? When the net margins were quite a bit higher a few years ago, where were the attacks then??? Is it because the price per gallon didn't affect the pockets of consumers then? Big difference between business's gross and net margins.

 

[Teknophreak]

The net profit margin is 8-10%, is that obscene? When the net margins were quite a bit higher a few years ago, where were the attacks then??? Is it because the price per gallon didn't affect the pockets of consumers then? Big difference between business's gross and net margins.

LOL, do you work for an oil company? It was big difference between gross and net profit , now it's big difference between gross and net margins.

True, their profit margins are in the 8-10% range, but it's also true that they are making BILLIONS of dollars off of fear and speculation. Iran is scary, they have oil - up goes the price. Venezuela has a anti-US leader, they also have oil - up goes the price. Demand is high because of China and India - up goes the price. Supplies are tight due to lack of refining capacity - up goes the price. I wonder if they will build a refinery??? No. Why? Because tight supplies = more money for the same product.

You may not agree with the political aspect of this, but you can certainly understand that the avg American (no offense to the rest of the world here) is feeling a big pinch due to the high prices and wants answers as to why Exxon is raking in billions.

 

[Wantagti]

So what's the big deal if they're making billions at 8-10% profit? They're selling more fuel than ever!! My only point is everything is going up due to cost of business going up. The consumer pays whenever the retailer pays more. I love when older people say they bought a house in 1973 for $50,000. And?? How much did you make then? Yes it sucks for us, but everyone else in the world pays even more because their countries tax it even more.
No, I don't work for an oil company, I just think general opinion is often swayed by facts presented by the media, which we all know the side they lean to.

 

[Gulfer]

i think we're making decent progress in alternative fuels. the new hybrids may not be great, but its encouraging that some of the cutting edge car companies are actually trying. they'll no doubt get better and better.

if you're hoping for a breakthrough technology like hydrogen power or the like, it may be a while. i'm sure there are people working on it, but its not like just throwing money at the problem is going to magically solve the problem. trying to make things like cold fusion and hydrogen power are huge undertakings, it will simply take time, and it WILL just be a matter of time before they come up with a material or process breakthrough. nuclear power, the gasoline engine, and the steam engine, wasn't invented overnight, and neither will these technologies.

of course i'm sure i'm stating the obvious here, but the problem with developing these technologies is that they require capital, with very little short term return on the investment. what profit-making company is going to do that? companies are formed to make money, pure and simple. until we become a communist state, its going to stay that way.

On a side note, Hydrogen power is here, its here and its ready for use.. Its not being used of course because the people with the ability to push it forward wont do that.

The only hurdle left for Hydrogen is the question of how do you produce enough intermediate hydrogen fuel for the entire motoring public. Which is one of the biggest questions of all. But a question on that scale will NEVER be tackled until there is demand for the fuel. That happens when hydrogen cars are being sold and used in larger scales then small municiple/manufacturer projects. The two groups that have the power to push this forward (Energy producing companies/Goverment) won't do so any time soon since its clearly not in their interest to do that.

Now all in all you could take the side that well its just not worth it as an fuel source at this time because of the mass production questions and the fact that you have to replace every filling station on earth. Fine, but the half-assed attempt to push E85 onto the idiot public is what really burns me. That effort could be used to help further the goals of a hydrogen which is a real alternative fuel that not only works, but would last us well into the future/infinity. Once you "follow the money" on the E85 story, it becomes painfully clear why that fuel is now the posterchild for current US government/fuel companies/US auto manufacturers... its actually sickening to me.

 

[Gulfer]

BTW when I refer to hydrogen I'm talking about Hydrogen Combustion engines (ie. BMW) instead of Hydrogen fuel cells (just too expensive, not feasable on large scale, and u get stuck with a booring electric engine.. blah)

 

[NewYorkMike]

dependig o what happens i may trade the gti for a tdi golf. it would certainly drop my payment quite a bit.

but what do i know

 

[Teknophreak]

So what's the big deal if they're making billions at 8-10% profit? They're selling more fuel than ever!! My only point is everything is going up due to cost of business going up. The consumer pays whenever the retailer pays more. I love when older people say they bought a house in 1973 for $50,000. And?? How much did you make then? Yes it sucks for us, but everyone else in the world pays even more because their countries tax it even more.
No, I don't work for an oil company, I just think general opinion is often swayed by facts presented by the media, which we all know the side they lean to.

I don't have a problem, per se, with a company making billions. I think it will be money wasted on a dying technology instead of invested in something sustainable and that is sad. Let's also keep in mind, oil companies are making tons of money off of the fear being generated by Iran and other issues. Of course our fearless leader does nothing but increase the tension, but then again, he's an oil man.

No, I don't work for an oil company, I just think general opinion is often swayed by facts presented by the media, which we all know the side they lean to.

C'mon, are conservatives still on that old routine? It's always the media's fault. It's never the fault of the brainless masses that only believe what they see on TV. (my apologies to the brainless masses - also known as Bush voters) Heck, if it wasn't for Bush supporters, we wouldn't have anyone to run the rides at the county fair. BTW, I'm just teasing you here. Don't it personally or as an attack. Just having fun. :wink:

 

[andrewt]

On a side note, Hydrogen power is here, its here and its ready for use.. Its not being used of course because the people with the ability to push it forward wont do that.

The only hurdle left for Hydrogen is the question of how do you produce enough intermediate hydrogen fuel for the entire motoring public. Which is one of the biggest questions of all. But a question on that scale will NEVER be tackled until there is demand for the fuel. That happens when hydrogen cars are being sold and used in larger scales then small municiple/manufacturer projects. The two groups that have the power to push this forward (Energy producing companies/Goverment) won't do so any time soon since its clearly not in their interest to do that.

Now all in all you could take the side that well its just not worth it as an fuel source at this time because of the mass production questions and the fact that you have to replace every filling station on earth. Fine, but the half-assed attempt to push E85 onto the idiot public is what really burns me. That effort could be used to help further the goals of a hydrogen which is a real alternative fuel that not only works, but would last us well into the future/infinity. Once you "follow the money" on the E85 story, it becomes painfully clear why that fuel is now the posterchild for current US government/fuel companies/US auto manufacturers... its actually sickening to me.

i keep holding out hope that someone will figure out how to extract hydrogen fuel from water. :bow:

 

[Teknophreak]

i keep holding out hope that someone will figure out how to extract hydrogen fuel from water. :bow:

I think it is possible, just too expensive and energy intensive right now.

 

[RJS5689]

I think it is possible, just too expensive and energy intensive right now.

it is possible to split hydrogen and oxygen atoms, in fact we do it in teh chem lab, the problem is as stated, to do it in cars and turn it into fuel would be a costly thing right now

 

[earthtoandy]

i'm glad someone finally brought up the cartel...F'ing OPEC...

No doubt. Its amazing things like this are not only allowed to exist in this world, but embraced!

 

[MHS216]

It's more an issue of the OPEC being able to say, "ok you don't like our cartel, no oil for you." And that scares the shit out of our government even though they would never admit to it. We literally will do anything for them because we are that desperate and dependent.

We (USA) pretty much are the hookers that suck dick for crack rock.

Hydrogen production is possible as others have said. The issue is that it takes more energy to produce the fuel than the actual process produces at this point (if that makes sense, end with less energy than started with) thats not even touching the issue of mass producing millions of brand new cars, and having millions of gas stations convert and having millions of people say, "ok, sure I'll get one of those new fangled hydrogen powered cars."

Think of it like the XBOX 360...Microsoft produced millions of them, and 4 months later you were still lucky to even hear that a store had one, let alone even have a chance to buy one. You could buy one on ebay for about twice what it was worth. I know this isn't an exact analogy, but now think about how many more people have cars than XBOX 360s and you get an idea of just how long it will take to convert all the cars on the road to some sort of "alternative fuel vehicle"

We're talking years 10? 15? 20? It's DISGUSTING.:barf: