What Happened to the gas crisis

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> And this would solve the problem of overcharging customers for the remaining cheap gas in their tanks. </font>

2 comments:

#1) Making a fair profit is not overcharging customers. One way the small retailers make their profit is on the upside of an increase, understand that many retailers make 5-cents per gallon or LESS. Some actually operate on a business model that shows a $0.00 profit per gallon on gas sales and make their profit on inside store sales. I know many people don't believe profit margins are often from 0 to 5 cents, but those are true margins.

#2) Many store owners are still "sticking" their tank to measure their gas. They actually go out and drop a long wooden stick with measuring makers on the stick to show them the amount of fuel in their tanks, it would not be realistic to assume they can simply calculate when to raise their price to account for the new, more expensive fuel in the tank. Combine that with the fact that many of the store employees are less than educated, less than motivated employees and you find that it might be a realistic impossibility to raise prices as the old fuel is sold off.



BillyP . . . you comments about gas station pricing experience are essentially the same as mine and as we probably live 1000 miles apart, I'd suggest that these comments represent what occurs at most gas stations in most areas. Obviously there may be isolated cases of gougers and higher or lower margins that may occur, but the gas station business is a very low margin business. Even if they make 10-cents a gallon, that works out to be a 3.5% profit margin for the retailer.

 

[slowrev]

Billy,
Thanks I did not reply to the correct post. Your comment "your competitor will eat your lunch". Is sort of misleading, competition in gasoline sales does not seem to exist much anymore. Only compertition to raise the price, not drop it. I do realize it is not all the retailers fault.

The gas and go places are already losing money on high gas prices, the customers are not buying as much other stuff at the store, just gas.....So I guess they will raise the price some more to cover their inside sales losses, which will just decrease inside sales furthur.
Oh well....
Another thought. Why should the consumers take all the risks on the price dropping. For instance I buy gas fo 3.299 one day and the next day it drops to 2.999 ! Now I am stuck with expensive gas as well, can I get a rebate ?

It is also getting cost prohibitive in fuel to shop around for the lowest gas price and we are more restricted to buying gas along our planned route. Detours cost money, perhaps more than one will save in finding the cheapest gas.

I wonder what the hurricane force/price formula for gas is ? A force 1 hurricane raises gas .259 does each force number increment raise the gas .259 ?

I don't recall this happening for hurricanes in recent years past, at least on a nationwide level.

Ben

 

[SkyPup]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Billy,

I don't recall this happening for hurricanes in recent years past, at least on a nationwide level.

Ben )</font>


No one else recalls two Class V hurricanes hitting the Louisiana-Texas Gulf Coast within a month where the majority of petrochemical products for the USA are produced either..... at least not in this century and I don't think they were producing any petrochemical products there in the previous century when they did have allot of hurricanes make landfall there.

 

[kensfarm]

We had a local gas station shut down when he could only buy replacement gas that would have cost him over $3 dollars.. his station has old pumps and the price on the pumps would only go as high as $2.99. When he opened back up.. he was selling all 3 grades for $2.99.

 

[BillyP]

I remember, several years ago, when gas went over a buck a gallon and no one had a pump that went past 99.9. they just set the pumps for half of the price of a gallon and you paid double what the pump said.

 

[RedRocker]

The "Gas Crisis" will be back this weekend.

 

[beenthere]

I doubt that. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[mathey]

May 2005 profits for the top 4 major oil companies:

British petroleum up 165 percent
Conoco-Philips up 45 percent
Exxon-Mobil up 125 percent
Chevron-Texaco up 294 percent.

July 2005

Exxon-Mobil's second quarter profits, up another 32 percent, third highest in company history.

Chevron doubled its second quarter profits, the most prosperous stretch in the oil giant's 125-year history

guesses on 3rd and 4th quarter numbers?

 

[gsxr1100]

Well, as I stated before look at Exxon/Mobil since about April.... pretty flat except for the last 2 weeks. I made $5 a share....WOW!!!!!

I could have made the same amount with XM radio or almost double with Lowes...

They are making money but some of there stock holders are not seeing the huge profit.

 

[kenmac]

what I dont understand is this. There is a company here named jet pep. Jet pep has several stations all over town & different gas prices at each station.It don't cost jet pep more to fill their tanks at one station than it does another. They have tanker trucks & haul their own gas .Example is , one station is $2.63 per gal. 5 miles down the rd. they have it for $2.77 per gal.When I called and asked why they do this , they say ,where the station is located dictates what price they sell gas for.See there are alot of answers as to why gas prices are high . Has anyone ever heard this as one of those reasons? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif