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One man's answer to big oil | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment
How about just using less oil?[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by Matthew Cervi on Mon May 01, 2006 at 08:31:25 AM PDT

You said "I hope you do the same for a company you choose"...so if you boycott Exxon and start buying more and Shell and I boycott Shell and start buying more at Exxon then we haven't accomplished anything have we?

The oil industry's profits may be high, even excessive, but as long as demand exceeds supply we have only ourselves to blame.  With China's economy ramping up I see no end for the demand for oil and the supply is finite.

A year ago we traded my wife's minivan (18mpg) in for a Prius (~48mpg) and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.  Come the end of the year when my lease expires on my BMW (28mpg) I'm going to get a Honda Fit (~38mpg).  I figure every little bit of lower consumption helps reduce demand and has the bonus of insulating me from higher prices.

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What is this...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Anonymous User on Tue May 02, 2006 at 06:40:20 AM PDT

"As long as the demand exceeds supply" crap I keep hearing about oil? Yes, we consume tons of oil, but I've seen NO signs of actual shortages, the gas stations never seem to run out, and if they do, the truck is less than an hour away from delivery, so it's not a "supply vs. demand issue". The oil companies should not be making records profits while the citizens are being squeezed to death.

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Think globally[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by Matthew Cervi on Tue May 02, 2006 at 11:49:09 AM PDT

Sure, we don't often run out here in the US (I actually have seen shortages after Hurricane Katrina and currently during the ethanol phase-in), but I suspect poorer countries end up with shortages of gas.

It is simple economics.  If I have 10 widgets and 9 people want to buy them I need to lower my price to attract more buyers.  Likewise if I have 10 widgets but 12 customers, I can raise my prices to find the 10 most willing customers.  The two that don't/can't buy see a shortage.  In this case the US, with plenty of money relatively speaking, doesn't see shortages.

I'm not defending the size of the oil companies' profits (personally I'm more bothered by their executive compensation), but merely pointing out one reason why prices are increasing and how I chose to reduce my exposure that.

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One man's answer to big oil | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment
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