OT: That Email About Boycotting Some Petrol Companies

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

I've just received that email about boycotting not all the petrol companies, but just the larger ones.

 

I think we've discussed that email on this forum before (as an OT thread) and that somebody explained why such a boycott wouldn't work.

 

Assuming, of course, that I remember right and that it was on this forum in the first place.

 

Anyone remember why the suggested boycott wouldn't work?

[Big Red 67]

I stoped driving 3 or 4 years ago.

 

I saw this coming then.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Originally posted by Big Red 67:

I stoped driving 3 or 4 years ago.

 

I saw this coming then.

Well... I didn't. But I'm more of a bicycle sort of guy so the prices don't affect me as much.

 

It's just that I've read somewhere that the boycott wouldn't work because if the big companies find themselves out of pocket, they'll simply pass the loss onto the smaller companies by raising the wholesale price of petrol.

 

On the other hand, I think companies would make a contract to sell among themselves at a specific price for a set amount of time, so a big company wouldn't be able to raise its prices from one day to the next.

 

Anyone know anything about this boycott/email?

[EmptinesOf Youth]

Being 18 year old that only works about two days a week (and very close to my house at that) and spends all his other time playing guitar and computer games, i can say i too am not that affected. But it does suck. I dont really understand why it wouldnt work, maybe big oil is paying people to put out these articles saying it wouldnt?

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Originally posted by EmptinessOFYouth:

maybe big oil is paying people to put out these articles saying it wouldnt?

Yes, I've sort of suspected that too. It wouldn't take much to set up a bunch of internet sock puppets saying it wouldn't work.

[Bbach1]

Why wouldn't a boycott work?

 

I can think of three quick reasons without digging in any deeper:

 

1. Truckers would have to boycott as well. We would have zero goods in our grocery stores. Not gonna happen.

 

2. Everyone would have to join in the boycott and not everyone feels the pinch. What's a couple more dollars a gallon when you have so much money?

 

3. Heating oil and propane. It's not all about driving.

 

Oh, and four:

4. Our government and military use massive amounts of gas and oil. They won't stop, nor will the wars end. We'll keep on gobbling up the worlds oil supplies.

 

My personal feelings on oil consumption is that mankind will not accept alternatives until we actually run out. How's that for a gloomy outlook?

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

You'd really only end up punishing the little guy...the one that's trying to sell gasoline and beer and cigarettes and soft drinks and candy bars to make the rent payment and feed his family. The oil company wouldn't even feel a pinch.....

[Tone Taster]

I think a couple of posts failed to address the original post

 

It was talking about boycotting THE BIGGEST OIL COMPANIES LIKE EXXON AND MOBIL and IT WAS NOT about boycotting the smaller companies or all companies.

 

This premise will work using free market economic models

 

If we all made a conscious effort not to just pull in anywhere, but really planned on getting gas at the mom & pops or smaller outlets and quit supporting the big guys, the big guys would be forced to lower their prices eventually to stay competitive. If more people gassed up at the smaller outlets, the smaller outlets could maintain their lower price due to demand and this could force the big guys to undecut them. Then people would start gassing up at the big guys.

 

This is a simple concept, that if applied; could work

[jbote]

I personally don't buy gas from Exxon/Mobil, and haven't since the Exxon Valdez disaster off of the Alaska coast. The doubletalk coming from their corporate offices made me want to heave.

 

Speaking of the latest spike in gas prices, has anyone noticed how it is now being passed on to consumers in the grocery store? I do all the shopping for my family, and I walked in the store yesterday and it seemed like everything on the shelves had gone up by a buck.

[miroslav]

Supply and demand...that's what drives oil prices.

 

If there was a drop in demand...supply would spike up, and the prices would drop down some.

It's pretty simple economics.

 

Everyone drives more and more and more...so stop bitching about gas prices unless you are prepared to cut back some of your unnecessary driving...which is like telling a heroin junky to stop shooting up unnecessarily!

 

I know this might set off a few people...but the ridiculous amount of SUV's on the road...doesn't help matters much.

It's become like a plaque...IMO...one SUV after another on the roads...sometimes 10 in a row before you see a small, gas-conscious car.

 

Nobody really cares...it's all about personal image/comfort and convenience...so just pay the price and shut up about it.

[Big Red 67]

This is my S.U.B. Sport Utilily Bicycle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/thebigred67/DSCF0568.jpg

Hauls lots of food, beer, even room for a passenger!

[caprae]

That's too cool. A stretch bike. Did you modify that yourself?

[Big Red 67]

I didn't build it, just installed it. It will carry a unbelieveable amount of cargo.

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by yZeCounsel:

I think a couple of posts failed to address the original post

 

It was talking about boycotting THE BIGGEST OIL COMPANIES LIKE EXXON AND MOBIL and IT WAS NOT about boycotting the smaller companies or all companies.

 

This premise will work using free market economic models

 

If we all made a conscious effort not to just pull in anywhere, but really planned on getting gas at the mom & pops or smaller outlets and quit supporting the big guys, the big guys would be forced to lower their prices eventually to stay competitive. If more people gassed up at the smaller outlets, the smaller outlets could maintain their lower price due to demand and this could force the big guys to undecut them. Then people would start gassing up at the big guys.

 

This is a simple concept, that if applied; could work

You have mom and pop gas stores there? And they are not buying their gas from the big oil companies? Hmmmm.

Paint me skeptical.

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Yeah, that's one of the things that people don't realize. Most of the small independent petroleum distrubutors buy their products from the big oil companies. Any "squeeze" that's put on the big oil companies is simply passed on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

 

There are really no crude oil shortages....there's plenty of oil in reserve. The shortage is of the refined products....mostly since Hurricane Katrina knocked the Gulf Coast refineries offline. Some of them are still not back in production.

[Ricochet]

It is not wise counsel to recommend supporting this boycott of "the big oil companies." At the retail level you're still hurting the little guys, not the big ones. That's simple, not hard to understand, and yes, it'll work... if what you want to do is put a bunch of gas station operators and their employees out of work in your community.

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Originally posted by Ricochet:

It is not wise counsel to recommend supporting this boycott of "the big oil companies." At the retail level you're still hurting the little guys, not the big ones. That's simple, not hard to understand, and yes, it'll work... if what you want to do is put a bunch of gas station operators and their employees out of work in your community.

+1

[Trucks]

Its got something to do with the fact that it all comes from the top. So if you buy your petrol from the major player directly or from Jacks Gas 'n' Crap you're still paying the oil companies. Besides why boycott the oil company its the Govt that makes all the dough. I personally think its a smoke screen, the Oil Companies may look big controlling and evil but it goes alot higher than that Govt side.

 

A boycott would only work if we boycotted combustion fuel for vehicles as a whole.

 

How about this for a CRAAAAAZy idea we could just forget about petrol & deisel and get alternative ways of powering a vehicle.... We have the technology to put everybody in an affordable economical bio friendly car/bike/pod/whatever but why dont we??? Because the oil hasnt ran out yet, why would you get rid of a massive revenue stream before its dried up.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by miroslav:

Supply and demand...that's what drives oil prices.

 

If there was a drop in demand...supply would spike up, and the prices would drop down some.

It's pretty simple economics.

 

Everyone drives more and more and more...so stop bitching about gas prices unless you are prepared to cut back some of your unnecessary driving...which is like telling a heroin junky to stop shooting up unnecessarily!

 

I know this might set off a few people...but the ridiculous amount of SUV's on the road...doesn't help matters much.

It's become like a plaque...IMO...one SUV after another on the roads...sometimes 10 in a row before you see a small, gas-conscious car.

 

Nobody really cares...it's all about personal image/comfort and convenience...so just pay the price and shut up about it.

You have no argument from me.

 

It cracks me up when you watch someone at the gas pump being interviewed on the evening news that they can't handle the $60.00 charge to fill up the gas tank in their big-assed (for their big asses) Suburban.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Originally posted by Sasquatch51:

Yeah, that's one of the things that people don't realize. Most of the small independent petroleum distrubutors buy their products from the big oil companies. Any "squeeze" that's put on the big oil companies is simply passed on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

Yeah, but in most industries, companies agree to supply stuff to one another at a set price for a set period of time. As in "I, Joe Bloggs Inc. will sell this model steering wheel to Ford at x amount per piece for the next 12 months". So if you boycotted the larger companies, they wouldn't be able to pass the loss onto the smaller distributors until it was time to draw up a new contract.

 

But I don't know if the small distributors have some sort of supply contract with the bigger companies. Anybody know?

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

Originally posted by Sasquatch51:

Yeah, that's one of the things that people don't realize. Most of the small independent petroleum distrubutors buy their products from the big oil companies. Any "squeeze" that's put on the big oil companies is simply passed on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

Yeah, but in most industries, companies agree to supply stuff to one another at a set price for a set period of time. As in "I, Joe Bloggs Inc. will sell this model steering wheel to Ford at x amount per piece for the next 12 months". So if you boycotted the larger companies, they wouldn't be able to pass the loss onto the smaller distributors until it was time to draw up a new contract.

 

But I don't know if the small distributors have some sort of supply contract with the bigger companies. Anybody know?

Nope, those prices (for the refineries) are directly tied to the per-barrel price for crude and change on a daily basis. The prices the refineries charge to the independent gasoline distributors are also adjusted daily (in some cases more often) and are a product of the cost-per-barrel and refinery costs. That's why you sometimes see the gas stations adjusting prices at the pumps 2 or 3 times a day....sometimes up and sometimes down. It's pretty dynamic.

[Gifthorse]

I have a theory, and I am not saying I am right. I was just thinking the other day about how much ENERGY is the next big thing for investment. I mean 11 years ago it seemed to be the internet and technology.

 

Energy is the next big one. Maybe that is why we are paying so much now for gas. I mean, you know the oil companies are going to be on the bandwagon for the next big energy source. Maybe they are just trying to make as much money now so they can put the infrastructure in place (which will cost billions), to switch over to something else in 10 years.

 

LIke they already own everything for the oil. Maybe they are just milking it as long as they can before they have to spend a bunch of money switching over.

 

Anyways, just a thought. Not saying I am right.

 

Seems like in today's world oil isn't the answer. It is bad for the environment and it makes us dependant on the middle east..

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by yZeCounsel:

I think a couple of posts failed to address the original post

 

It was talking about boycotting THE BIGGEST OIL COMPANIES LIKE EXXON AND MOBIL and IT WAS NOT about boycotting the smaller companies or all companies.

 

This premise will work using free market economic models

 

If we all made a conscious effort not to just pull in anywhere, but really planned on getting gas at the mom & pops or smaller outlets and quit supporting the big guys, the big guys would be forced to lower their prices eventually to stay competitive. If more people gassed up at the smaller outlets, the smaller outlets could maintain their lower price due to demand and this could force the big guys to undecut them. Then people would start gassing up at the big guys.

 

This is a simple concept, that if applied; could work

You couldn't be more wrong. This is a case of a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous.

 

If you boycott Exxon, et al. and "go to the mom & pops" you:

 

1. Won't hurt Exxon, since the no-name gas stations get their gas from major oil companies too.
   
2. Will hurt mom & pops, because most gas stations are franchises owned by individuals, not the oil company itself
   
3. It would take a consistant boycott by a significant portion of the population to even get their attention. I don't know about you, but it's 23 miles to Lilly's school and 17 to my work. 15 each way otherwise. 30 each way for her mother. No showers at either of our work, so even if it were possible to ride to jobs it wouldn't work. That's a heck of a lot of miles we must drive because we can't afford to live near our school and work locations. Do you think I'll be able to go without a vehicle, let alone two cars for any length of time?
   

 

 

Make me independently wealthy and I might consider it. Then again, I'd have enough money to not care.