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Sava
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GO GO GO!
Mar 2001
time: 23:35
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quote:
LOS ANGELES : As prices at the pump have soared, so have profits at California's top five oil companies, according to a study by a Los Angeles consumer group.
The study by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) compared oil company profit reports and gasoline prices over the last two years.
The five companies included in the study -- Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Chevron Texaco and BP -- refine 90 percent of California's gasoline, controlling the majority of its gas stations, the group said.
The group found that in 2003, an average 35 percent increase in gas prices pumped up average company profits nearly tenfold -- by 926 percent.
By comparing Securities and Exchange Commission filings on profits with Energy Information Administration gasoline price data, the FTCR found that on a quarterly basis, each spike in gas prices resulted in a spike in company profits.
Gasoline companies are expected to release their profitability reports for the first quarter of 2004 beginning at the end of the month.
"If pump prices stay up, then 2004 will (be) the most profitable year yet for the oil companies," said FTCR petroleum industry consultant Tim Hamilton, who led the study.
"These levels of profits are likely to continue in the West, regardless of any actions taken by OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) between now and the elections, since these spikes in profits are driven by refinery manipulation, not crude shortages," he said.
Pump prices have been climbing across the nation, rising 31.5 cents per gallon since late December, but average gas prices in freeway-bound California hit 2.21 dollars per gallon (3.8 liters), compared with 1.82 dollars in the rest of the United States.
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Emphasis added by me... link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor...w/81105/1/.html
Well, needless to say, this confirms many of my suspicions(sp?). Soaring gas prices are driven by good old fashioned market manipulation as oil companies are seeking to add profits. In the end, a bunch of oil executives are laughing all the way to the bank as consumers take hits in their pocketbooks. 
This ought to be a crime. 
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FlameFlash
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Minnesota, USA
Dec 2001
time: 23:35
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Bah... Soaring profits? Didn't you mean, soaring prices elsewhere?
After all, as the gas prices rise, so too will the prices of other things since businesses, to make a profit, have to raise their prices to thus not go bankrupt. Sure some of the oil nations are getting off better, but not really since even though price hikes don't really adjust consumption much here (we don't have buses and trains that are good for much, after all) it means the dollar begins to be worth less... thus the dollars that buy those $42US barrels start being worth in real terms about $40 or $35 as time goes on.
Going to agree and disagree DBTS... on gas taxes... with as much as people like driving and look down on bus etc use for some stupid reason as 'lower class' they're just willing to pay more for their stupid status symbols, just like all the morons buying SUVs and then complaining about the price of gas.
Me, I wish I could afford a hybrid right now...
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Comrade Tassadar
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Opec should stop all oil production.
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MichaeltheGreat
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Apolyton Grand Executioner
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mooning the house that Ruth built.
Oct 1999
time: 21:35
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quote:
Originally posted by FlameFlash
Bah... Soaring profits? Didn't you mean, soaring prices elsewhere?
After all, as the gas prices rise, so too will the prices of other things since businesses, to make a profit, have to raise their prices to thus not go bankrupt.
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Transportation is a significant part of the cost of some commodities, but not others. Large shippers also do a lot of risk management and hedging on NYMEX to insulate themselves against spikes in fuel prices, as do utilities and other major fuel consumers, so they don't really start to hurt for a while, and the effect is only lasting if you see a long-term change in prices.
quote:
Sure some of the oil nations are getting off better, but not really since even though price hikes don't really adjust consumption much here (we don't have buses and trains that are good for much, after all) it means the dollar begins to be worth less... thus the dollars that buy those $42US barrels start being worth in real terms about $40 or $35 as time goes on.
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Worth less against what? Other currencies will be similarly or more effected, and inflationary pressures in non-fuel and non-petrochemical sectors of the economy will not change, so a ten percent increase in the price of crude will not trigger a similar level of reduction in the value of the dollar on any PPP or absolute basis.
quote:
Going to agree and disagree DBTS... on gas taxes... with as much as people like driving and look down on bus etc use for some stupid reason as 'lower class'
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I've ridden a lot of mass transit lately. There are a number of good reasons for looking on bus use as "lower class." The conditions of the buses and trains, and the passengers, primarily. 
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19-05-2004 19:50
) to go broke.
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