[AT] Gasoline $ another view

[gwill at toast.net]

Dudley,

Thank you for a rational, rather than an emotional response to this thread.

It's very easy for us as greedy consumers ( we channel our greed toward looking for the lowest possible, and maybe unreasonable price)to condemn greedy suppliers (who are simply trying to sell a product in short supply at a reasonable price).

If we look rationally, we can easily see that the price at the pump represents a contract between a willing buyer and a willing seller.  We want to buy it for $.399 and they can't sell it for less than it costs them to have it available at the pump.  If the price is more than you're willing to pay, walk on by the pump... they won't be mad.

Why do any of us have to commute long distances?  Because of poor choices we made about where we live or work... that isn't the fault of our fuel supplier, nor should it be the responsibility of the taxpayer to give us relief.

Of course we need a national energy policy, and to ignore the "greenies".

Question:  Is the 33 gallons you quote the actual gasoline contained in a 42 gallon barrel of crude?

George Willer

----- Original Message -----
From: Dudley Rupert [mailto:drupert at premier1.net]
Sent: 9/1/2005 2:54:26 AM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: RE: [AT] Gasoline $

> This is not political ether (so please don't try and make it such) but just
> an observation -
> 
> I was just reading part of an interview that a Sunoco executive in Colorado
> gave to a News outlet earlier today.  He said that if the US had more
> refinery capacity it would certainly alleviate some of the short-term stress
> on the market that is caused when a refinery is shut down for maintenance or
> when a disaster strikes it.  And he noted that there hasn't been a new
> refinery built in the US in the last 25 years.  But he went on to say that
> our bigger problem is long term and it is the lack of an adequate supply of
> crude.
> 
> If as a nation we are unwilling - for whatever reason - to explore/drill for
> new sources of crude (for example, in ANWAR or the Santa Barbara channel)
> and to build more nuclear power plants to help solve our near term energy
> needs and to make a national commitment (like the Kennedy commitment to put
> a man on the moon by the end of the sixties) to finding alternative energy
> sources then it seems to me we shouldn't be surprised when we see the
> numbers we do on the gas pumps.  A barrel of crude contains 33 gallons and
> with crude trading at 65 to 70 dollars a barrel it means that when a crew
> docks a tanker and starts loading it costs them 2 dollars a gallon.  Adding
> in the shipping costs, refinery costs, federal and local gas taxes and a
> little markup for the retail station it's not surprising that the first
> digit on the gallon cost at the pump is fast becoming a "3".
> 
> Since the first of the summer I've bought 27 cans of gas and 4 cans of
> diesel to run my hobby tractors ... I think I may have to permanently park
> them and start looking for a hybrid antique tractor.
> 
> Dudley
> Snohomish, Washington