Alternate Gas Price Strategy

[Javert]

This has come across me on the forums of gametrailers.com. I'd like your opinions on this and whether it's a)feasible b)something you would start doing.

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your

consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon

by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the

marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and

Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this

point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of

people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten

more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten

more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could

conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

As for me, it certainly wouldn't hurt to chip in. Plus, I don't have many Ex/Mo gas stations around my area anyway.

And for those who think I'm part of the 30, 30 million etc. Well, maybe I just care enough to be.

 

[Majestic XII]

The answer:

 

[Rupertvdb]

First off in response to:

This has come across me on the forums of gametrailers.com.

Then wipe it off ahahahah...sigh

Second off, this has circulated since the petrol strikes in the great and fair UK. There was a suggested mass boycott as a possible solution to all petroleum woes which obviously failed pretty hard, next thing you know this sprung up. I don't have an economics degree but I get the feeling that this idea is not quite so gloriously destructive as it makes itself out to be. I don't think that the price of PETROL

(i will fight you all to the death on this one, all at once...it's a frigging liquid, WHY IN GOD'S.... sorry...i'm calm again)

is quite so easy to manipulate from the individual consumer level; even if you could get a decent proportion of people to give it a shot.

Surely someone with a vested interest in the petroleum industry is around to give us a greater insight into the mechanics of such a move. Hello?

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

PETROL (i will fight you all to the death on this one, all at once...it's a frigging liquid, WHY IN GOD'S.... sorry...i'm calm again)

It's not called gas it's called gasoline. Gas is just for short.

 

[Rupertvdb]

I realised that just as I came back to this thread. I would cover my intense shame at making such a stupid comment by editing the hell out of my original post but I think i'll let it stand as a testament to my chocolate-addled brain.

I still hate it being called gas. This changes nothing.

But back on topic:

I was thinking about the issue of boycotting and I think I have an answer for why this would not work. It relies on the fact that petrol or gas stations are franchises of the petrol companies to some extent, and that petrol companies aren't just petrol companies but oil companies as well, which i'm pretty sure is true.

The individual consumer level of petrol consumption is without a doubt a big part of the oil company revenues but not by any means the enirety. This is pretty much my entire point. I can't really be bothered looking any further into this right now, bed calls, but all I can think as an immediate counter to the thing you found is the fact that it assumes too much on the part of the little man.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Or you could stop whining about your oh so high petrol prices ($4 US, thats what, £2.70? For a Gallon? You've no idea how good you've got it) and buy fuel efficent (read: Japanese and Europein or horror of horrors, develop your own!) cars rather than you're beloved drink-like-a-fish behemoths which, when one looks at engine technology are, lets face it, in the dark ages. I've seen American cars. Your "compacts" are fequently larger than the average family esate here in the UK or the rest of Europe.

Whilst I am not suggesting that you should all pack in you're buicks and Pontiacs and buy minis (NOT those god damned BMW things, the real deal) but you really need to refine you're engine technology.

 

[VirusType2]

Or you could stop whining about your oh so high petrol prices ($4 US, thats what, £2.70? For a Gallon? You've no idea how good you've got it) and buy fuel efficent (read: Japanese and Europein or horror of horrors, develop your own!) cars rather than you're beloved drink-like-a-fish behemoths which, when one looks at engine technology are, lets face it, in the dark ages. I've seen American cars. Your "compacts" are fequently larger than the average family esate here in the UK or the rest of Europe.

Whilst I am not suggesting that you should all pack in you're buicks and Pontiacs and buy minis (NOT those god damned BMW things, the real deal) but you really need to refine you're engine technology.

A lot has changed over the years Bob. When was the last time you opened the hood of a new American car? If you are talking about old American cars, look at old Japanese cars and their engine is just as primitive. The smart thing that Japanese car makers did was make cars lighter, and the whole world woke up. They also developed dual overhead cam which was a trick to get more power from their smaller engines. Back in the day it was all about luxury here in America, people were driving the equivalent of the Titanic around. At this point in time it looked as if petrol was as plentiful as water or air. Somewhere around 1977 - coinciding with a fuel crisis, and competition from Japanese automakers, we started making econo-boxes too.

Just because Honda is the technological leader in fuel efficiency doesn't mean that American cars aren't competitive. It's just that the population of the world has doubled in the past 40 years, and industrial nations rise. Supply demand. Not enough oil to meet demand.

Just remember America is broad, and in some areas has rough terrain, which are why SUV's are popular. Japan and nations in Europe are quite a bit smaller, in fact many Japanese get by on scooters and bicycles. It's small. Most of the European sedans are 4500 lb. tanks anyway. Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW. Heavy as shit, Heavy as hell, heavy. All are a waste of fuel!

Anyway, I understand America has always been under scrutiny because they are always among the best, and are not always the best in any area. Cars and Electronics particularly, America has always had fierce competition, particularly from Japan. European cars are pretty uncommon here because lets face it - Japan is hard to beat. They do anything possible to help their small country be competitive in the world. I've heard stories where they show up for work 2 hours early, mow the lawn, then stay late, off the clock! Job security is partially to blame, if you lose your job there, you can't so easily just relocate.

Most of the American cars coming out now can run on alternate types of fuel. How about yours? I don't know, only the type of people to own a Hummer buy European cars here, so it's really no different. You guys don't buy many American cars because they have to be shipped over-seas, and that is ****ing expensive, but American cars sell really well here of course, and they are inexpensive.

Also, America has the most car manufacturers in the world, so there are many types of vehicles offered here. Most people want a car that can seat at least 4 people comfortably though, so cars can only get so small. Just off the top of my head though, the Dodge Neon and the Ford Focus were about as compact as you can get, and got rave reviews. I know the new Chevy Impala has an 8 cylinder engine that uses 6 cylinders until you punch the gas.

Remember also that buyers are paying extra for the technologically advanced engine. Compare the Dodge Viper to the Honda [Accura] NSX. The NSX costs about $80,000 while the Viper is about $40,000 and has twice the performance! The reason? Expensive engine manufacturing techniques (polished) and research and development of the V-Tech engine costs drove the NSX's price up. With Honda enjoying great sales for decades, they can now afford to cut costs of their cars. Honda and Accura are now separate and both have 100% American owned and operated plants here in the United States. Honda of America. This is another way they drove down prices by not having to ship these cars over-seas. Fuel efficiency has become more crucial as of late, and the American cars will change along with the times, as they always have.

Personally, I think everyone should ride a motorcycle whenever possible - with regard to harsh weather and cargo space. I've been wanting one for about 20 years and finally might get one. My brother had one and he could drive it for weeks on like 2 gallons of fuel, where most cars get about 26 miles per gallon, bikes get many times that.

Why is fuel so expensive in Europe anyway?

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

I've been using Shell fuels for 15 years BTW.

 

[GhostBoi]

The reason this won't work is very simple, if people don't buy from two companies that are the biggest sellers of a product and the supply and the demand for the product are already close to begin with. the other companies that people are buying from will simply run out.

 

[Gunner]

the other companies that people are buying from will simply run out.

Your knowledge of market economics is baffling :thumbs:

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I sigh every time I see that someone's forewarded me this bullcrap email.

The actions proposed totally won't work. Simple supply and demand. The new gas stations everyone will favor will raise their prices accordingly as demand increases and supply diminishes. Then, when the masses see the other stations are 10 cents cheaper than everyone else's, boom, we're right back where we started. The answer is just like everyone's said already. Buy more fuel-efficient cars. Support the development of alternate energy. Die in a fire.

okay maybe that last one was a little too harsh.

 

[GhostBoi]

Your knowledge of market economics is baffling :thumbs:

I can't tell if you are making fun of me or praising me :| . If you are making fun of me, here is the simple math. The supply of oil equals roughly 85 million barrels per day of oil (mbpd). Demand of oil is roughly close to that number of 85 million. Now if everyone runs away from the two main suppliers of oil and buys elsewhere those other companies will run out and then the consumer will have to go back to the two main companies.