A Gallon of Gas in Saudi Arabia

Strangest Tribe

farfromglorified wrote:

That's a nation, not an answer to my question.

Your question was a suggestion about oil rights?

My question is who owns the oil and it's rights in Iraq?

Taxpayers are shelling out billions per week to guard whose oil?

Economically and fiscally speaking, I understand the points being made here.

What I'm not sure I understand is the disparity in oil prices globally.

If it cost X number of $ to drill, remove and refine the oil ...then oil rich
nations certainly pay more than X for their gasoline. So in Saudi Arabia what is the actual cost of crude? Who is drilling it? Its not the Chinese or the Indians right? So how is it by my calculations 20X by the time it gets here?

farfromglorified

Strangest Tribe wrote:

Your question was a suggestion about oil rights?

My question was whether or not you think you have a right to oil in another nation. Do you?

For the record, gas in Saudi Arabia is cheap because of a) low domestic demand b) high domestic supply c) subsidized pricing. Saudi Arabia has a nationalized oil company and nationalized refinery. Prices there are not set by the market, but rather by Saudi Aramco, the state-owned energy company. Saudi Aramco could effectively give away gas in Saudi Arabia if it wanted to without much effect.

Pacomc79

farfromglorified wrote:

My question was whether or not you think you have a right to oil in another nation. Do you?

For the record, gas in Saudi Arabia is cheap because of a) low domestic demand b) high domestic supply c) subsidized pricing. Saudi Arabia has a nationalized oil company and nationalized refinery. Prices there are not set by the market, but rather by Saudi Aramco, the state-owned energy company. Saudi Aramco could effectively give away gas in Saudi Arabia if it wanted to without much effect.

For the record that would mean it's not a publically available company right?

So the richest people in saudi arabia have connections with the government?

Pacomc79

Strangest Tribe wrote:

How much does it cost to get the gas to us? Can't we just fill 'er up in Saudi at .45 per gallon and drive it home?

good question, deals with supply, from pulling it out of the ground to quality of what they get, to tanker and shipping costs, to refinery, to special blend, to additional transit costs... etc.

The further it is away, the more expensive it is due to transit costs... tarriffs etc.

As per the other question, yes US troops are guarding Iraqui oil.

Strangest Tribe

Goddammit it's like being in bible school and asking about the dinosaurs or how the fuck did Noah build an ark so big? It's always the same rhetoric.


If US based petroleum companies are drilling, transporting and refining Mid-East oil the Saudis can afford to sell it at .45 cents per gallon. IF the demand coming from China and India exceeds the supply and those countries are forcing our own US companies to raise gas prices internationally doesn't that hurt our dollar even more?

Essentially, we can only point the finger at ourselves.

farfromglorified

Pacomc79 wrote:

For the record that would mean it's not a publically available company right?

Saudi Aramco is not a publicly traded firm, no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Aramco

So the richest people in saudi arabia have connections with the government?

LOL...the richest people in Saudi Arabia are the government.

Strangest Tribe

farfromglorified wrote:

My question was whether or not you think you have a right to oil in another nation. Do you?
.

No, I don't have a right to anyone else's oil.

But, when my own country has it's hands elbow deep in my pockets with a war overseas and a lot of coin is being dropped, I have a right to honest answers. When the answers are malodorous... Such as why we are there fighting... Why are we hurting ourselves.... Why are the oil companies turning billions of profits....

And, it's the same shit answers over and over... Like supply and demand... And weak economically....

C'mon someone's fucking all the pretties at this party and the rest of us are footing the bill.

farfromglorified

Strangest Tribe wrote:

No, I don't have a right to anyone else's oil.

But, when my own country has it's hands elbow deep in my pockets with a war overseas and a lot of coin is being dropped, I have a right to honest answers. When the answers are malodorous... Such as why we are there fighting... Why are we hurting ourselves.... Why are the oil companies turning billions of profits....

And, it's the same shit answers over and over... Like supply and demand... And weak economically....

C'mon someone's fucking all the pretties at this party and the rest of us are footing the bill.

We are not 'there fighting' if by there you mean Saudi Arabia. We are fighting in Iraq and hurting ourselves because of this country's stupidity and fear following 9/11.

The oil companies are turning billions in profits largely because of increased demand for their products vis a vis limited or threatened supplies of our consumables created from their products. This isn't complicated in the least bit.

Just because answers aren't what you want them to be doesn't mean they are "malodorous".

The sad thing is that you are claiming to be "looking for answers" when in fact you already have created those answers in your head, regardless of reality.

Strangest Tribe

farfromglorified wrote:

We are not 'there fighting' if by there you mean Saudi Arabia. We are fighting in Iraq and hurting ourselves because of this country's stupidity and fear following 9/11.

The oil companies are turning billions in profits largely because of increased demand for their products vis a vis limited or threatened supplies of our consumables created from their products. This isn't complicated in the least bit.

Just because answers aren't what you want them to be doesn't mean they are "malodorous".

The sad thing is that you are claiming to be "looking for answers" when in fact you already have created those answers in your head, regardless of reality.

No, I wish I had the answers. But I don't think you do either...

Those same answers came from the ENRON camp a few years ago.

Yep

Collin

Strangest Tribe wrote:

It's even cheaper in Venezuela.

It's cheaper than water!

Don't drill Alaska!

farfromglorified

Strangest Tribe wrote:

No, I wish I had the answers. But I don't think you do either...

Those same answers came from the ENRON camp a few years ago.

Yep

If I'm wrong, tell me where my answers are insufficient.

decides2dream

Collin wrote:

It's cheaper than water!

Don't drill Alaska!

agreed!


and ENOUGH with oil! can't we LEARN from all this? we need to END our dependence on oil. period. we need alternate fuel sources. period. it's been said enough but man, the resources poured into this horrific war, imagine poured instead into research and development of a new, renewable resource?! :eek: boggles my mind....

Strangest Tribe

farfromglorified wrote:

If I'm wrong, tell me where my answers are insufficient.

How about making it simple, Since everything to you is and should be simple.

The Oil industry has a finite supply, can set its own prices withrelative ease, can manipulate world economies and has a checkered past. One refinery can explode and impact the prices world wide. Instead of using the billions of profit for solutions they line their pockets first. They control nations, elections and buy energy solving patents and shelve them. Oil companies are hugely irresposible and history has repeatedly shown them to be corrupt.

Why should I believe the fears they sell?

farfromglorified

Strangest Tribe wrote:

The Oil industry has a finite supply, can set its own prices withrelative ease, can manipulate world economies and has a checkered past. One refinery can explode and impact the prices world wide.

LOL...if by the "oil industry" you mean American oil companies, you're crazy. The Exxons, Shells, and ConocosPhillips cannot set prices "with relative ease", nor do they manipulate world economies to the extent you are implying. American oil companies, despite their massive profits and undue influence, are not the major players in terms of the world's oil supply.

If what you're saying is true, how come these omnipotent entities allowed the price of oil to dip to nearly $10 / barrel only 15 years ago??? And how could they not even stop the mountains of regulation, litigation, and restrictions against them?

Instead of using the billions of profit for solutions they line their pockets first.

Actually, they pay billions in taxes first. Then they "line their pockets".

They control nations, elections and buy energy solving patents and shelve them. Oil companies are hugely irresposible and history has repeatedly shown them to be corrupt.

Why should I believe the fears they sell?

I'll certainly agree with you that oil companies have been hugely irresponsible and corrupt in all sorts of ways! That's absolutely true and demonstrable from simple history lessons. You shouldn't believe the "fears they sell".

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Cosmo wrote:

...
I vote for building a refinery in your backyard.

make mine a refinerary...

it's more refiner I hear..

my2hands

Strangest Tribe wrote:

is only .45 cents....

That's right!!!!


.45 cents per gallon.

yeah, supply and demand and shortages and oil fields gone dry and we need to drill Alaska.... it's all Bullshit

just Bullshit

and seafood is cheaper closer to the ocean

whats your point?

Strangest Tribe

my2hands wrote:

and seafood is cheaper closer to the ocean

whats your point?

With that logic, I'd be giving $400 for a lobster where I live.

Check out this latest thread... makes much more sense than the supply and demand argument we're being force fed by the Oil companies

The demand hasn't doubled in the last year, why has the cost?


http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=286486

my2hands

Strangest Tribe wrote:

With that logic, I'd be giving $400 for a lobster where I live.

Check out this latest thread... makes much more sense than the supply and demand argument we're being force fed by the Oil companies

The demand hasn't doubled in the last year, why has the cost?


http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=286486

i bet you're paying 10x's what people in maine are for lobster


but i am not defending the oil companies... just showing that using saudi arabia as your example may not be the best choice

Strangest Tribe

my2hands wrote:

i bet you're paying 10x's what people in maine are for lobster


but i am not defending the oil companies... just showing that using saudi arabia as your example may not be the best choice

yeah, I understand the economics of the situation. I have also read that gas is .17cents in Venezuela. Another OPEC nation. I just have trouble sinking my teeth entirely into the supply and demand argument vs. such disparities in price.

I have issues with the delivery side also. Like the postal service, you couldn't deliver a letter across the country for the price of what you pay for a stamp. However you could deliver a million letters across the country and make quite a profit. The same goes for lobster. If there was a tremendous demand for Lobster in the midwest ( like gasoline) you wouldn't have to pay 10X (in the midwest) what they give for a lobster in Maine... I would seriously doubt you would give 3X the price of Maine Lobster if the demand was that of gasoline.

...just sayin

Heineken Helen

mammasan wrote:

Well there are a few factors you are not taking into consideration.

1. Transportation costs. Saudi Arabia does not have to incur the transportation costs we do in order to get their oil.

2. Supply and Demand. Saudi Arabia does not consume even remotely near the amount of oil we do per capita. So their supply far out weighs their demand.

TAX! Usually most things that cost a lot is because they're taxed heavily.