Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Power To The People

Gas for $3.05 at the Fina on South 11th. That's just too much. That's ridiculous. That's just wrong.

I got an email this morning telling us all not to buy gas from Exxon/Mobil - they are owned by the same company. They are one of the largest oil companies in the world. This will create a loss of demand for them so - logically - they will be forced to lower their prices. Just yesterday on the Today show some Fat Cat (literally) that runs one of the oil companies said the price was based on supply and demand.

So, let's mess with the demand. We live in a Free Market - let's use our power. Stop buying gas at an Exxon/Mobil station.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Denise. But that's the only station I buy from. Our family is part of their college fund program where 10 cents of every gallon goes into college funds for my neices and nephew. (With the price of Harding these days, every dime counts!)

Anonymous said...

Driving more fuel efficient cars, and choosing to carpool, and even riding your bike when possible also lowers the demand.

In most european countries gas is around $10.00 a gallon.

Sarah said...

I'm willing to do whatever - I didn't even buy gas yesterday (May 15th) because someone told me not to! I'm on board! But if Exxon and Mobil are $.05/gallon cheaper -- no promises!

AbbieCRAZY said...

In Abilene, the price at the Albertson's or the price at the (Evil Empire) Wal-Mart are usually the same or lower than the Exxon on Buffalo Gap.

I don't want to pay $10.00 a gallon!

Nise' said...

I wish I could buy it for $3.05... today it was $3.50 in town. UGH!

I don't want to pay $10 either!

Anthony Parker said...

Any email whose subject line begins with Fw: is usually false. I looked this up on Snopes.com, the Urban Legend web site, and this turns out to be their no. 1 entry. It turns out this particular idea has been on the internet since 2001. Too bad it won't work.

As they explain, "The 'gas out' schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two brands of gasoline for a while won't work, however, because they are based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for gasoline is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: gasoline is a fungible commodity, so if one company's product isn't being bought up in one market or outlet, it will simply sell its product to (or through) other outlets ... "

It is true that it's all based on supply and demand, so "The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying LESS gasoline," something that most of us either aren't able or are unwilling to do.

You can read the whole Snopes article at:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

Sorry to spoil the fun but, hey, truth is truth. I paid 2.969 today getting my $.03 discount using my Evil Empire credit card today at I20/351.

Tia said...

As of yesterday (5/16/07) gas at HEB was $2.89. I haven't gone by there yet today. Who knows, it could have jumped today.

Anonymous said...

I'll have to disagree on this one. Oil companies make about 9 cents per dollar while taxing agencies make about 17 cents per dollar. That's a lot of income for doing nothing to find, refine, produce, transport or sell the product.

Ethanol also increases the cost since it is more expensive to produce, not to mention raising the demand for corn, which raises the price of feed for cattle and turkeys which makes our meat more expensive and so on and so on (and it's really no better for the environment). We have millions of barrels of oil we could tap into in the Gulf (where Russia and Mexico are drilling) or in Alaska and other places yet the treehuggers are blocking every move. How about not taxing and regulating us to death.

Check out these links
http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/bg2020.cfm

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=ethanol_time_to_steer_away&ns=RebeccaHagelin&dt=03/30/2007&page=full&comments=true

Ann