Marina Gas Price Comments

[chipj29]

Getting back to the intent of this thread...no matter how we slice it, it is going to be an expensive boating season. Make sure you all save your receipts to submit for the state tax reimbursement...assuming that can still be done.

[Aquadeziac]

Back when gas was $2/gal we were told how lucky we were because gas in other countries (France, U.K., Japan etc) was $5, $6, $7 /gal. Are the prices in these other countries rising correspondingly? Are they now paying $8, $10, $12 gal? Haven't heard THAT information in the news. I watched Irving across the street raise their gas almost $ .10 in three jumps between 8:30 this morning and 2:00 this afternoon and they got no fuel deliveries at all. How much is enough? $10/gal? $12/gal? Whats the figure? $1000 to fill the tank in my boat? $150 to fill the tank in my midsized car? $15 to fill the tank in my lawnmower for my postage stamp lawn? The Genie is definately out of the bottle and he likes being out.

[Fish]

Monday the price at Lakeport was $3.82, anyone find anything lower than that?

[kchace]

Originally Posted by Aquadeziac

Back when gas was $2/gal we were told how lucky we were because gas in other countries (France, U.K., Japan etc) was $5, $6, $7 /gal. Are the prices in these other countries rising correspondingly? Are they now paying $8, $10, $12 gal?

I guess the answer is yes:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&cl...um=11&ct=title


Ken

[kjbathe]

"WASHINGTON - With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, Senate Democrats want the government to grab some of the billions of dollars in profits being taken in by the major oil companies."

I like that they got it right in their use of "grab". How will that help any of us?

And my favorite quote from today's story is, "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.

Yah. That thinking is exactly how this country was built. We're going to tax ourselves out of this problem. Brilliant...

[AC2717]

Originally Posted by kjbathe

"WASHINGTON - With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, Senate Democrats want the government to grab some of the billions of dollars in profits being taken in by the major oil companies."

I like that they got it right in their use of "grab". How will that help any of us?

And my favorite quote from today's story is, "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.

Yah. That thinking is exactly how this country was built. We're going to tax ourselves out of this problem. Brilliant...

that is crap to be honest. lets tax them so when their profits get cut they just raise price. and youknow what the whole thing about other countries, well guess what, they get schooling, health care, dental care, and other perks that we have to pay for. Here we pay for the gas and these things. That arguement does nto hold water and I for one am sick of hearing it.
Gas needs to be regulated like a utility, but you know what they will screw that one up as well.

Oh wait can we start drilling now? pretty please, wish this would have never stopped

[bigdog]

To put things in perspective....

The Democrats have controlled the U.S. Senate and House for two years.
A new Speaker of the House was appointed 'Nancy Pelosi', to preside over the House and hand-select what bills would come before Congress.

There hasn't been one bill reviewed or voted upon, pertaining to
a long-term energy plan, or control of gasoline/oil supplies.
They had control and havent taken one step closer to solving any of these problems ! They don't have a clue. FYI... At the time Speaker Pelosi took office two years ago, the price of gas was $2.25 a gallon. In less than two years the price has almost doubled! What does this tell us.......

There also hasn't been any new oil refineries built in this country for over 40 years, up until recently. Even if we had all the oil we wanted, we don't have the means to process it. Blame the oil companies for that. Bad planning and foresight on their part, shame on them!

Had this country taken a long-term approach and developed an energy plan back in the 80;s (maybe it was he 70's ?), when we were gas rationing
and got a wake-up call, we probably wouldn't be in our current situation.

[Orion]

You're right on all counts, bigdog!

[kjbathe]

I was looking through the Winni gas prices on the other thread to see if there were any odd trends. In general, everyone is trending up equally. High on the lake right now is $4.75 and low is $4.19. Average price today is $4.64 vs. $4.02 a month ago.

*IF* this past month's upward trend continues unchanged the rest of the summer, my projection shows we'd be paying an average of $6.35 / gallon on the lake at Labor Day. I have no idea if prices will continue to climb the way they did to start this season (I'm thinking they would level off somewhat) but $6.35 certainly grabbed my attention.

[CanisLupusArctos]

Originally Posted by AC2717

that is crap to be honest. lets tax them so when their profits get cut they just raise price. and youknow what the whole thing about other countries, well guess what, they get schooling, health care, dental care, and other perks that we have to pay for. Here we pay for the gas and these things. That arguement does nto hold water and I for one am sick of hearing it.
Gas needs to be regulated like a utility, but you know what they will screw that one up as well.

Oh wait can we start drilling now? pretty please, wish this would have never stopped

Read the foreign news sites and you will see why regulation is not working.

British people are currently protesting their government's fuel taxes which put their gas prices much higher than ours right now. Their liberal party is currently in power and the conservatives are quickly gaining ground as a result of those in power taking the blame for what's going on.

I have many friends who are British and I've yet to hear more than one positive comment about their health system because the quality isn't there. In Canada, the national health service is falling apart - there are many Canadian healthcare seekers who cross the border into the US in order to self-pay for quality and timeliness that aren't available from a government.

The more money any given government gets its hands on (regardless of the source), the more it will borrow against tomorrow's anticipated revenue, and the further into debt it will go, until finally it becomes financially impossible to support any longer. We could tax the windfall profits of the oil companies, but the government will very quickly learn to rely on that income. That will be a problem when the bubble bursts. What goes up comes down just as quickly. There are already career investors selling their oil stocks as a result - cashing in now instead of waiting to see what happens. Something has to break - no one knows what it will be, but whatever it is, the current oil profits are not sustainable long-term and therefore a tax on their profits could never be a reliable source of income for the government.

In countries that regulate the price of gasoline by subsidizing it (like Indonesia,) the governments are feeling the financial strain and calling it quits on subsidies. There have been riots when the people of those countries discovered what it really costs.

What's all this mean for the marinas around here? If so many other countries are feeling shock of high-priced oil, then we Winnipesaukee Boaters can't expect our leaders to be able to change anything. Our problem starts with the fact that there's very little supply cushion in oil right now. Demand and supply are just about equal. Knowing this, Wall Street oil buyers are panic buying. The panic buying model is best illustrated by the rush of people who go to the store as soon as the weatherman mentions a chance of snow. They fear it might be the Great Blizzard and that they may face a shortage of personal supplies so they mob the stores to buy a million things they probably won't even use. With daily oil output currently meeting demand (barely), the Wall St. buyers are going into panic-buy mode at the mention of the slightest possible interruption in the supply (which would cause a shortage, if it happened.) These guys on Wall St. want to own barrels of oil in the event of such a shortage.

So where do marina gas prices (and others around the lake) go for the summer? As long as the news on possible interruptions to the oil supply are quiet for the summer, prices would stay about where they are now.

Don't let the lack of a shortage fool you: We're in a situation where it wouldn't take much of an interruption in supply to create one. If a hurricane starts to form, or if news breaks that a strange-looking man is lighting off firecrackers within 10 miles of an oil pipeline, the Wall St. oil buyers are going to speculate that there will be a sudden shortage and they will bid up the oil price on that day. We will feel it in the form of higher gas prices, as will everyone else in the world (when the foreign oil markets react in the same way.) If the threats to the supply keep coming, the price will keep rising as long as supply remains only slightly greater than demand. Everyone will look to and blame their ruling powers regardless of what party they are, and people in many countries will demand that any taxes on fuel be removed.

What we really need is a much bigger oil supply cushion like we always used to have... or the means to make up for any shortage that comes along. "Having a cushion" is the universal safety solution for just about everything, like when you go hiking in the White Mountains, you bring an extra set of clothing (I hope!). Your original set of clothing is enough, but White Mountain weather could change all that.

[Orion]

Good post CLA.

Now here's the answer once and for all.....

electric cars & nuclear power plants


If the "greenies" had realized that nuclear power is really "green" power in the '70s we would be in a better position today (not to mention the deaths of so many coal miners over the last 30 years).

[GWC...]

Originally Posted by Orion

Now here's the answer once and for all.....

If the "greenies" had realized that nuclear power is really "green" power in the '70s we would be in a better position today (not to mention the deaths of so many coal miners over the last 30 years).

You seem to forget about Texas Utilities and their coal fired energy plants and capitalism and political activists (they are waiting in the wings, should they be needed, again).

[