Sealer
Champion Author
Charleston
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Message Posted: Nov 11, 2008 2:26:35 PM
Catfish is correct, of course. Anyone should be able to figure out that if you're still doing the same amount of driving, you'll still be buying the same amount of gas over time no matter what your tank level is when you get gas. Demand is down because the economy is slowing and people are using less fuel.
[Edited by: Sealer at 11/11/2008 2:26:57 PM EST]
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cornerman
Veteran Author
Idaho
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Message Posted: Nov 11, 2008 2:19:37 PM
catfish ia am not sure what you do for a living but I own a convenience store .You are totally wrong in what you are saying because even a rocket scientist can figure out if most of the cars are only a quarter full infull when the prices were rising then the consumption is one quarter.
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catfish99
Champion Author
Wilmington
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Message Posted: Nov 9, 2008 6:03:07 AM
Ummm, not the case, cornerman.
Demand is solely a function of consumption. Even if your idea (every car in the US running around with half a tank, and this is an unusual condition due to falling prices) were true, the lowering to half-tank as maximum fuel level would be a one-time event, and drivers would continue to replace the fuel they burned. They would just do it more frequently. At the end of the week, they would have purchased exactly the same amount of gas, whether they were keeping their tanks full or half-full.
Anyway, I thought people started going to half-tanks when prices went over $4 because they could not afford to fill up. What happened to that theory?
OH, and one more point-the average car in America is about half-full all the time anyway. Some are near empty, some are near full, and the rest somewhere in between. Once you average out every car you find a middle around half a tank or so.
(Edited for a spelling error)
[Edited by: catfish99 at 11/9/2008 6:04:14 AM EST]
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cornerman
Veteran Author
Idaho
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Message Posted: Nov 8, 2008 10:09:14 AM
Demand is down right now because a great percentage of the automobiles is the U.S are running around below half a tank of fuel.That is a huge number of gallons.Nobody is filling their tanks because they know in 2 days gas has been dropping about 8 cents.When fuel was rising ever day it didnt make sense not to fill up.But now people are just waiting to see it fall. Full tanks in the automobiles and half tanks in the automobiles make a big difference in what you see now
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aesmith1988
Rookie Author
Charleston
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Message Posted: Nov 7, 2008 9:38:39 PM
yeah they act like it takes a while but thats a lie
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screwedbybigoil
Sophomore Author
New Jersey
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Message Posted: Nov 6, 2008 9:52:59 PM
.... no, I never wonder.
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Sealer
Champion Author
Charleston
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Message Posted: Nov 6, 2008 10:03:26 AM
You have to wonder what someone like bugzappers will use as an excuse the next time rising global demand makes oil and gasoline prices skyrocket (especially if we don't increase supply now while demand is lower). When you identify the problem incorrectly, you fail to solve the true problem. That's the case with the "speculator conspiracy theorists" just as it was with the "big oil gouging conspiracy theorists." Price is determined in the free market by supply and demand. If you "find" and "correct" any other "cause" of high prices, you'll be terribly disappointed next time increased demand drives price up.
Look it up: supply and demand.
[Edited by: Sealer at 11/6/2008 10:04:58 AM EST]
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catfish99
Champion Author
Wilmington
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Message Posted: Nov 6, 2008 5:43:32 AM
It is our behavior as consumers which causes this, Mrs. Leo. When prices are going up rapidly, we race to the lowest priced station, draining it dry. The next shipment of gas will be at the highest current price, so we race to the next cheapest station. When wholesale prices go down, however, we drain the lowest priced station, and when they get another shipment, the same station has the lowest price, so we continue to drain it. Meanwhile, the other stations are holding expensive gas they cannot sell. The low priced station will not get any more customers by lowering further, so they hold the price a bit until the competition either bites the bullet and takes a loss or finally gets new gas.
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bugzappers
Champion Author
Kentucky
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Message Posted: Nov 3, 2008 10:26:34 PM
Just days after the Congress overrode Bush's veto of the Farm Bill, one of the biggest energy speculators, T. Boone Pickens, announced his Pickens Plan (he now loves wind and natural gas) rather than oil. He apparently realized that when the Farm Bill "closed the Enron loophole," his ability to make billions as an oil speculator was no longer possible. Look what closing the Enron loophole has done for our gas prices the last several weeks.
look it up, enron loophole.
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