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wannabuyamonkey said:
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britneyspearsatemyshorts said:
the oil companies are gouging not the local guy. and ive proved taxes are almost zero factor. you take away the tax and it goes to the oil company not us. this is proven by visual fact, not youre conjecture.



It's not the local stations that earn 9 cents on the gallon, that's the oil companys profits. So if we decided to make it illegal for gas companies to earn a profit we would effectively lower gas by 9 cents. At 20 gallons a week that's 1.80 a week. Of coarse that's if we completely outlawed profit. If the oil companies made no profit, guess what? They would stop providing us with oil.

It's also important to note that while the oil companies have seen an increase in profits to coincide with with increased demand, they haven't seen much of an increase in thier profit margins.





What strange alignment of the planets has brought this about? I agree with WBAM. I would add that oil companies lose money, too. Check out the period between 1983 and 1993 on Bloomberg. They shut down production because it was not economic to keep them open.

What caused prices to fall? You and I. Consumers cut back and became more efficient. When everyone dumps their SUVs for a new Prius, prices will drop.