Tuesday, July 27, 1999, 10:45:36 PM, Gene wrote:
> Lewis Osborn wrote:
<snip>
>> Well, here's a different perspective. I still think that gasoline has gone
>up
>> less in the past 75 years than most anything else you can find, (except, of
>> course, computers, etc) but gouging is gouging. If I worked at an oil
>> facility these days, I'd be looking over my shoulder. After decades with
>> virtually no losses, the industry is losing one every couple of weeks - and,
>> each time they loose one, the price at the pump pops at least a nickel. The
>> only times that the price at the pumps has gone up in the past forty years
>has
>> been due to various crisis - mostly created and/or unsubstantiated.
<snip>
> What do you mean by "losing one every couple of weeks"? Losing one of
> what? What is an oil facility? Yeah, I work in the oil industry, and
I don't have the details at my fingertips, but from memory: Two refinery
explosions in California (the Bay Area?) just before the first recent hike in
prices. Then, just as prices started back down, a pipeline in northern
Washington State had a spill and a fire, killing a couple of bystanders, I
believe, and prices went up again. They eased off again, and, from bits and
pieces I caught on the news, some other refinery had a problem of some sort,
and the prices are up again. I'm not making accusations, I'm recounting
recent events.
> yeah, I'm looking over my shoulder, but who isnt these days. I'm not
> going to defend the industry too much one way or another, at least not
> right now, but from what I understand, they can get close to one barrel
> of gas from one barrel of crude. But the equipment it takes to do it
I don't pretend to know much about oil refining, but the kerosene, diesel, and
other "stuff" have to come from somewhere in that barrel.
> costs money to buy and operate. Yeah, oil companys make alot of money,
> so do car companys, construction companys, etc. Can you still buy a car
> or house for the same price you could 10 years ago?
No, and, if you look at my post again, you'll see that I stated that, IMO, the
price of gasoline has risen less in the last 75 years than most other things,
but, due to the methods used to justify the price increases, I have to wonder
if the increases were justified by increasing production costs. It _could_ be
like Bill Gates limiting the supply of Windows, then raising the price on that
limited supply.
> I have a hard time believing in any industry contrived or created
> crisises, the guys I've seen that run these outfits cant get along well
> enough to do things that are sure to benefit the industry, let alone
> secretly conspire to raise the prices. What happened all those times
> the price was so low, that a conspiracy too? 1-1-99 gas was $0.95 in
> WY. Now it is around $1.25. We pay about $0.30 in taxes. Fairly low
> compared to other states, but still!
"Conspiracy" being a Politicaly Incorrect term these days, I'd refer to it as
antitrust and price fixing. The guys at the top of the various companies
don't get along? Don't kid yourself. They may even serve on each others'
boards, and they are certainly friendly with each other. Company loyalty to
them is just part of their sales strategy. While the "worker bees" have true
company loyalty, the execs with the 6- and 7-figure and up incomes
can work for one company this month and another company next month, taking
their golden parachute with them each and every time. (This is true of ALL
industries. For instance, when AT&T's Robert Allen decided to step down, he
found a guy named John Walters, brought him on board, and started grooming
him. 9 months later, Bob decided that John wasn't AT&T CEO material, and sent
him down the road - with TWENTY-SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS of the stockholders'
money.) Look around and you can find other examples for yourself.
> Sorry, I know this aint ole truck related, but I had to say something!
Don'cher truck run on gas? And don't ya need that paycheck to keep it on the
road? :-)
> Gene Davis
> '58 GMC 100
> NAPCO
Lewis - K7LVO - Medford - Valley of the Rogue - OR
The Forty - 1940 Chevy Pickup - One Owner
http://www.teleport.com/~losborn/1940.html
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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