Better Fill up today

[pam]

gas is 3.29 in neosho and joplin, out here where we live there is a little general store type place and it is 3.39 there. deisel is 4.09, I truly can't cut back much more than we already have, only place we drive is to work,five miles one way to the bosses house; and to town;23 miles one way; once a week to pay bills and get what we need that we can afford we burn wood for heat, everything else is electric. Lol, people that don't know where i live tell me well you could walk to the store and stuff, I told em yeah and if I start now I'll get there by wednsday lol. Oil companies aren't as blameless as they would have us believe either

[frawin]

The problem and the answer is not people who are conserving, like you are.. An example to consider is that a Toyota Prius gets 60 -70 MPG and a Hummer gets 6-7MPG, if you drove them both 100,000 miles over a period of time the Prius would use 1667 gallons of gasoline @ 60MPG or 1429 Gallons @70MPG, the Hummer would use 16,667 gallons of Gasoline at 6MPG and 14,286 gallons at 7MPG, and the people who bought the original Hummers got a tax break for buying them We should be giving a tax break to people that buy the Hybrids.
EFW

[pam]

Yeah, I get what you are sayin there. I see so many people drivin huge SUV's that never get outside the city limits much less off road! It's a status symbol y'know. We have an ol' chevy 4 wheeler we use to haul wood and hay and stuff but it doesn't go very far and we need it to get in and out of the places we go for that stuff. There really is no easy fix for this situation we find ourselves in. And I'm not even conservin to be virtuous or anything, if I could AFFORD to go somewhere I would once in a while LOL Gas economy is just that to me economic!We bought more gas efficient vehicles for most of the drivin just so we could afford to go see family and stuff.

[momof 2boys]

What about the middle class family of four? How can it be expected that this type of family, that is struggling and living paycheck to paycheck, buy a newer more fuel effecient car?  There is no way I would even contemplate driving a Hummer. Just plain overkill.  But I have been driving the same Ford Explorer for the past 10 years.  Why a four wheel drive you ask?? No status here, just plain and simple live on country roads and drive on icy, snowy roads in the winter.

With grocery prices going up, clothing my children, average monthly perscription expenses of $300, school lunch expenses for kids, monthly mortgage, utility expenses,  and those unexpected expenses that always seem to pop up ---- How am I able to afford a Toyota Prius or new hybrid???  I feel lucky to even have a vehicle that starts each morning.  I know some of you are probably saying, "Then it is time for a different vehicle."  That would be nice, however my paycheck won't allow it. 

I think it is time our government listens to us and not the lobbyists.  More funding towards a more economical and environmental friendly fuel. 

What kills me is the reports of oil companies and their record profits, while my family struggles and sacrifices so many things so that I can buy a stinking tank of gas!!!  I remember as a child taking family vacations, what great memories!!! Sorry kids no such memories for you, OPEC needs to break last years record profit & the government has its head buried in the sand!!!

This subject matter just gets a little under my skin.  LOL!!!

[frawin]

The comparison of a Hummer to the Hybrid was the extreme. A 5% reduction in consumption of oil in this countyry is 1 Million barrels per day, wehave 4.7% of the world poulation and we consume almost 25% of the world oil production. The people driving a Ford Explorer are not the big problems it is the people driving big V-10 and V-8 engines that don't need the horsepower to do their daily work. Compare the big V-8 engines getting 16-19 MPG to the V-6 engines in say Buicks, Pontiacs, Hondas, Toyotas,  etc getting 30+ MPG, the V-6 get 60% better mileage, if we cut our total oil consumption by 60% over the next 10 years that would be a reduction of 12.6Million barrels per day. Any cut is an improvement as the US has increased oil consuption every year since imports began. Not all of our consupmtion is for gasoline or Diesel but all of it could be reduced.
EFW

[pam]

I hear you Mom, our newest car is 14 years old lol. my truck is a 75 but she still starts whenever I need her and I think I'm gonna be buried in her! preferably with the hubs locked in . I have the same problem with the reports of record profits while they are makin excuses for the skyrocketing prices, somethin just ain't jibin. I'm not goin to buy a new car for 2 reasons I'm broke and I can't afford one lol and I don't want the debt load if I could afford one. Which means I'll probly be lookin for some harness and a wagon so I can make these ol nags I've got earn their keep

[W. Gray]

I encountered my first $60 fill up yesterday at 3.43.

[frawin]

When you are looking at the Headlines about Oil Companies making record profits, you don't see the record capial investment they have to make to find new production to replace the declining production. You don't see that they have to spend Billions of dollars on offshore projects that may not return a dollar for years down the road and in some cases never. You don't see what risks they take everytime they go out to drill a new well and it turns out a dry hole. You don't see the pipeline projects that they commit to build they make take 10-20 years to complete and start getting revenue. Try buying a farm and all of the machinery it takes to farm it and get no return for 10 years. Exxon is owned by the investors , millions of them and if they don't make a profit for the investors then people don't invest in them and they don't do new projects and you don't have Multi-Billion dollar refineries, and the resulting gasoline and other products. Exxon invests far more each year than what their profits are. America is built on Democracy and free enterprise and Capital investment and the product of that is profits for the investors, if we give that up we are giving up a big part of what this country was built on, the alternative is to let the government take over all of the businesses including the farming see what happens to production then.
EFW

[W. Gray]

I have to chuckle when the two democrats exclaim that one of the first things they will do as president is launch a high level investigation into the oil companies to root out any conspiracy causes and prosecute those responsible as to why gasoline and oil company profits are so high.

This action will be of no use (they know it) but does ramp up the frenzy for votes.

If they were really sincere, they would have requested their own congressional investigation into the oil companies.

Last I heard, gasoline was no more expensive today than it was thirty years ago in terms of inflation.

Frank,

Do you remember when Fina Oil began a huge advertising gimmick in 1966 to introduce pink air at their stations in 1967? They put out full page advertising, etc. That was when the attendant checked your oil, washed your windows, and checked the air in your tires.

I think Fina was a Belgian company.

[pam]

I've read reports that say the price of oil has a lot to do with speculation overseas. I've read reports that say the price of oil is due to increased demand in china and other developing countries, reports that say it's due to lack of refining capacity, lack of inventory, shutdowns due to violence and weather etc. etc. etc. I know  it costs money to develop new fields and build refineries , I know dry holes cost money and time, I guess I'm just pissed because I'm one of the workin class stiffs who has no choice at the moment but to pour my money down a dry hole which is the oil companies profit margin.