> <SNIP>
> > In the example you quoted as to gasoline prices, I have often wondered
> >and by now am pretty well convinced, that the so called "shortages" are
> >not artificial. I don't know about your area of the country, but it seems
> >around here in the sunny South that every time there is a major holiday
> >whereby more people will be traveling, there is another "temporary
> >shortage" of supply, and UP go gas prices.
> > Oh well, If I had all the answers, I could sit back and watch the money
> >roll in, instead of going out to work for it.
> >Rick Morrison
> >72 MGBGT
> >74 Midget
> >
>
> Exactly...these "shortages" happen to be so convenient for the gas stations
> don't they?
>
> Blake Wylie
>
While it's true all of these shortages are artificial, don't be too
hard on the oil companies. Investors often have a lot to do with the
prices as well. And during the Gulf War, when crude oil prices
doubled, the cost at the pump didn't go up near that much, (even
considering that a good chunk of the cost of a gallon of gas is taxes
that wouldn't have been affected by oil prices.)
A lot of people see the oil companies earning hundreds of
millions of dollars per quarter, and don't realize the BILLIONS of
dollars in capital that the oil companies have to tie up to get that
return. Believe it or not, their profit margins aren't much higher
than anybody else's, they're just investing a lot more capital.
Scott
Scott Gardner
gardner@lwcomm.com
www.lwcomm.com/~gardner
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