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Thread ID: 90073	2008-05-22 06:47:00	Petrol at $2 fro 91 octane	gary67 (56)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
671465	2008-05-23 09:49:00	I see Bush is asking the oil companies why they are making such large profits. Can't they just drop their prices so they make a reasonable profit. Or why don't they invest in more refineries and tankers and stop those bloody speculators. And if anyone shoots one of those greasy speculators he should be rewarded with free petrol for life.	Digby (677)
671466	2008-05-23 15:24:00	I am amazed that the petrol had gone way up in New Zealand. Last time when I left the country last year, it was $1.55 a litre. :horrified	PiscesKiwi (7911)
671467	2008-05-23 17:58:00	I am amazed that the petrol had gone way up in New Zealand. Last time when I left the country last year, it was $1.55 a litre. :horrified Where have you been ? (on the moon) Petrol has gone up everywhere Except countries like China and India and Iran where it is subsidized. But I cant believe that countries like India can keep these subsidies up.	Digby (677)
671468	2008-05-23 18:37:00	Where have you been ? (on the moon) Petrol has gone up everywhere Except countries like China and India and Iran where it is subsidized. But I cant believe that countries like India can keep these subsidies up. Yes, I have been on the moon. ;) I haven't been reading much of NZ news lately due to University classes/assignments etc as right now finally end of semester 1, which will give me a time to catch up on NZ news as I am behind the news. Even thought the petrol here in Australia have been going up and down as well too. :(	PiscesKiwi (7911)
671469	2008-05-23 20:08:00	Unfortunately . . for youse guys and the rest of the lesser-consumers of products oil . . . the US has the highest usage and therefore it also has the most to lose and gain by pricing and availability . Blame the US as I am sure you will . . but the biggest loser is really the US . You are just at the outer edge of the consumer's world and as such you don't get much voice in the stakes . Most of the rest of the world has to ride or die with the way things are . . . I wish it weren't so . . . but it's the sad truth . The way the US goes . . for the next few months or years anyway . . . are just the way things are gonna be . The US Greenback is taking the biggest hit in the exchange . . and the Arabs want gold to back up the sales to the US . . . and there lies the problem . Gold:to:US Dollars ratios are getting more and more lopsided . Gold costs more than it has for a long long time . . . and since the US uses Federally-backed paper that isn't worth the ink OR the paper . . the prices swell and the whole rest of the world gets it in the rear . . . topically applied, of course! Since gold has become the standard of international financial transactions, then it makes sense that things cost more . The world IS really intra-global now and what happens tonight in Bangladesh, happens tomorrow morning in ChCh . As for the dealers getting a lot of profits and such . . . it ain't so . The dealers are the bottom of the barrel and the petro-companies don't give a hoot if these peons live or die by slowly starving to death . . . especially the independents and mom-n-pop stores . They have to live on a few pennies a gallon or so and they have to also anticipate rise and falls of the wholesale costs to them by making sure that they have sufficient funds with which to buy their next load of fuel . They need to get some respect for even being in business in the first place . . and you won't see the dealer's kids driving Porsches and BMWs any more . It's a dog-eat-dog world and then you throw in the rebates for buying fuel and it all goes out the window . Just WHOM do you suppose has to cough up the cash for those rebates? Yup . . . it's the dealers . . it isn't the oil companies who pay it back! Every time someone uses a credit card to purchase fuel and then expects to get the few cents per gallon/liter rebate at the end of the year is just killing the dealer . In the days past . . . it was a great way to earn a living . . . we got free building rent and maintenance, free TV and radio advertising and we gave away trading stamps (S&H Green Stamps, Blue Chip Stamps, Tru-Value Stamps) for which the consumer usually got more than they were entitled to and they got free gifts from a store that let them cash in the stamps, now pasted into books . . . for gifts and prizes . Some people got a whole house that way . . not just the furniture . . the HOUSE! We gave away full sets of glasses, cups, silverware and towels and sheets . . . one at a time, of course, to get you to return and buy more gas . Some "special customers" got a whole sheet of stamps or a full set of whatever freebie was being given out at that time . . so where was the profit there? I worked for Texaco . I know what happened . Texaco provided those white uniforms, paid the rent and the taxes for the property, paid the insurance and the electric bills, bought all the business licenses and paid the city/county fees for advertising on the signage and the windows; bought the broken windows, painted the buildings and paved the parking lots and replaced the pumps and general hardware to operate the stations too . They paid for shop rags, oil and greases and the distribution equipment in the station overhead dispensers and hoses and such, warranties on Texaco-branded batteries and tires and belts and hoses and even paid the labor to replace them under warrantee . Special promotions . . "Buy one tire and get another free" and "Free gas Thursdays" were all paid for by the oil companies too . They replaced the station lights and signs . . and updated the logos and even the little bell that rang when a customer hit the driveway . The stations had full-time attendants to clean your windshield, air your tires and empty your ashtrays and vacuum out your carpets while the pump was running . . . . . even for a "dollar's worth of regular" . . . . and at 19 . 9¢ a gallon . No . . . you would be nuts to go into the station business now . . and I don't see how many . . . or even ANY can stay alive in it . Make it simple for yourselves: . . . . . . who pays for the bathroom tissue in the restrooms? The dealers . . . . then you get to hear all the complaints of how the dealers are sodomizing the general public with price-gouging and unfair prices . Historically, milk and gasoline have been neck and neck in price per the same quantity . . . is that also true in NZ?	SurferJoe46 (51)
671470	2008-05-25 03:43:00	Two points have intrigued me. The low level of the US dollar is one of the causes of increased fuel prices in NZ. Why? Surely, the US dollars NZ buys to pay for the oil must now cost less, therefore the oil price to NZ should not change. NZ is party to an international agreement which requires us to hold a 90 day "strategic reserve" of oil. Any global price increase should not be imposed until oil paid for at the previous price has been used. Why is it immediate?	Graham L (2)
671471	2008-05-25 04:00:00	Two points have intrigued me. The low level of the US dollar is one of the causes of increased fuel prices in NZ. Why? Surely, the US dollars NZ buys to pay for the oil must now cost less, therefore the oil price to NZ should not change. NZ is party to an international agreement which requires us to hold a 90 day "strategic reserve" of oil. Any global price increase should not be imposed until oil paid for at the previous price has been used. Why is it immediate? Just wait for the NZ dollar to go back to it's normal level with the US dollar, and the price of petrol in NZ will go up by quite a bit more. I can see it being about $2.50 by the end of the year. Still, there seem to be more cars on the road than ever, and people don't seem to be cutting down on their travelling.	robbyp (2751)
671472	2008-05-27 09:33:00	Yup . . petrol has gone up but consumption has not dropped . I heard the radio today and it said consumption only dropped 3% . I have been taking the bus regularly day/day, don't have my own car for like since 2003 and there has not been an increase in bus usage IMO . People will not take alternative transport and just moan and complain and take money from other areas . Petrol is like considered a necessity - bit like power . Power has gone up but consumption has not drop . IMO the media is selective, sure there are some who have changed habits - got a smaller car, use the public transport but overall its v minor . ' I don't think the diff is that much between cars, they woudl make more of a savings by using public transport if they have access . Plus they need to sell the old big car and buy a smaller car . Some even just keep the old big car in the garage doing nothing but depreciate away . . . . . .	Nomad (952)
671473	2008-05-27 10:04:00	The sad thing is that the planet is not running out of oil! There are huge reserves much greater than those controlled by the Arabs. Until these are tapped and refineries can handle the crude the Arabs are holding back on increasing production causing this 'shortage' thus pushing up the oil market prices. This is being compounded by the huge increase in demand from growing nations like China. No matter how much oil we find in this country in years to come it won't alter the price we pay for fuel at the pumps. It could however reduce taxes as was quoted recently "If the South basin reserves prove as large as some pundits speculate, then the Govt will be able to wipe much of our personal taxation and the country could be funded from Oil Company Tax and Royalties from the crude" (If we are still around then)	muzza (7316)
671474	2008-05-27 10:24:00	The sad thing is that the planet is not running out of oil! There are huge reserves much greater than those controlled by the Arabs. Until these are tapped and refineries can handle the crude the Arabs are holding back on increasing production causing this 'shortage' thus pushing up the oil market prices. This is being compounded by the huge increase in demand from growing nations like China. No matter how much oil we find in this country in years to come it won't alter the price we pay for fuel at the pumps. It could however reduce taxes as was quoted recently "If the South basin reserves prove as large as some pundits speculate, then the Govt will be able to wipe much of our personal taxation and the country could be funded from Oil Company Tax and Royalties from the crude" (If we are still around then) Couldn't the yanks just invade Iran?	Twelvevolts (5457)
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