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I seem to remember the last time oil was $100/barrel, (Original Post) multigraincracker Jul 2022 OP
Add the taxes added since then. jimfields33 Jul 2022 #1
I doubt if they are more than a dime more than a few years ago. multigraincracker Jul 2022 #2
Perhaps. But salaries went up. Cost of refining certainly did. jimfields33 Jul 2022 #3
Then why do we see gas at one station 4.48 Beachnutt Jul 2022 #4
3.99 at costco greymattermom Jul 2022 #14
Costco sells at a discount to their members IronLionZion Jul 2022 #16
If no one buys gas at the ones charging a lot more... MichMan Jul 2022 #17
Much depends on hedging, delivery dates, and quantities Bernardo de La Paz Jul 2022 #27
A lot of these stores have a savings card..... Historic NY Jul 2022 #32
Inflation at almost 9%. multigraincracker Jul 2022 #5
A number of companies have actually been reporting a percentage increase in profits cstanleytech Jul 2022 #10
Refining went up since they shuttered refineries kwijybo Jul 2022 #29
Did the taxes go from zero to .62 and zero to .52? I think doc03 Jul 2022 #6
Taxes were already factored in, though moose65 Jul 2022 #15
"Pennsylvania 52 cents a gallon" (nope) BumRushDaShow Jul 2022 #19
Just remember Cherokee100 Jul 2022 #7
Capitalism is not based on supply and demand..... multigraincracker Jul 2022 #8
"It's base on what the market will bear." More like its based on how much cstanleytech Jul 2022 #11
Bingo and pay multigraincracker Jul 2022 #12
What the market will bear is based on supply and demand. Indirection failed. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Jul 2022 #30
Only if you or I Maine Abu El Banat Jul 2022 #9
Time to tax the oil companies for their excess profits on congressmembers. lastlib Jul 2022 #13
It sure used to be a lot cheaper filling up your car with crude oil than it is now. MichMan Jul 2022 #18
So you are going to try again BumRushDaShow Jul 2022 #25
Analysis of the price of a manufactured product based solely on raw material costs is simplistic MichMan Jul 2022 #34
True. But also, there's a lag between falling oil price and falling gas price, thesquanderer Jul 2022 #20
Seems like when it goes up, multigraincracker Jul 2022 #21
I don't see how a windfall profit tax will help us in the midterms KS Toronado Jul 2022 #22
This message was self-deleted by its author MichMan Jul 2022 #23
Nationalize all monopolies. multigraincracker Jul 2022 #24
There is no monopoly on oil or gas in the USA. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Jul 2022 #28
Utter nonsense, unworkable, a waste of time to propose Bernardo de La Paz Jul 2022 #31
There is no competition when a few large companies multigraincracker Jul 2022 #35
I had posted one such comparison in a different thread BumRushDaShow Jul 2022 #26
As the economy continues to recede, gas prices will drop considerably MichMan Jul 2022 #33
By then Big Oil will be bigger, richer with more political power and multigraincracker Jul 2022 #36
Not if demand plummets like it did in 2020. MichMan Jul 2022 #37
We need to speed up the switch to alternate fuels. multigraincracker Jul 2022 #38

jimfields33

(18,900 posts)
1. Add the taxes added since then.
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 05:40 AM
Jul 2022

Indiana 62 cents a gallon, Pennsylvania 52 cents a gallon. Add costs increase and labor increase and there has go. A buck plus more.

jimfields33

(18,900 posts)
3. Perhaps. But salaries went up. Cost of refining certainly did.
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 05:48 AM
Jul 2022

I’m sure gouging is part of it but not the independent gas stations who make their money on slurpees.

Beachnutt

(8,091 posts)
4. Then why do we see gas at one station 4.48
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 05:53 AM
Jul 2022

and right down the street it is 4.27, that is happening all over the country.
I have seen a .40 cent price difference within blocks,
And on trips big price differences within a cpl of miles.
Somebody doing some gouging...

Bernardo de La Paz

(50,922 posts)
27. Much depends on hedging, delivery dates, and quantities
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 08:10 AM
Jul 2022

If a station has full tanks when wholesale prices were lower, there would be a difference at the pump.

Station owners might also hedge their purchases by buying / selling futures contracts / options / derivatives.

An owner might have several stations and have a depot they filled with a huge quantity at a lower price at an earlier date.

A different owner might have only one station and the tanks don't have super large capacity and have to be filled frequently.

Historic NY

(37,859 posts)
32. A lot of these stores have a savings card.....
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 08:38 AM
Jul 2022

Sign up and save 10-11 cents. They think they make it up on in store purchases. If they can afford to drop it that much, then you know its all extra to corporate HQ.

multigraincracker

(34,087 posts)
5. Inflation at almost 9%.
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 05:54 AM
Jul 2022

That'd make it .27 cents. Now look at Oil CEO compensation and you'll see where it is going.

cstanleytech

(27,012 posts)
10. A number of companies have actually been reporting a percentage increase in profits
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 06:29 AM
Jul 2022

despite the minor cost of higher wages.
So really what's going on here? Personally I think number of companies are lying through their teeth and blaming the minor wage increases for the price hikes.

kwijybo

(264 posts)
29. Refining went up since they shuttered refineries
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 08:17 AM
Jul 2022

back in 2008, IIRC, there was a surplus of refineries. Then came a hurricane, and they still had a surplus. But, they had an excuse, so they shuttered old refineries and some new to increase the profit in refining. Fast forward, and we are paying for it.

moose65

(3,313 posts)
15. Taxes were already factored in, though
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 07:18 AM
Jul 2022

Taxes haven't increased by 62 cents - there was already a tax amount in that pump price.

The national average price of a gallon of regular has decreased by almost 25 cents since it peaked in the middle of June.

BumRushDaShow

(142,387 posts)
19. "Pennsylvania 52 cents a gallon" (nope)
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 07:48 AM
Jul 2022

PA's gasoline taxes were raised to 58 cents a gallon in January 2017 - 5 1/2 years ago.

Get ready for another gas tax increase
Updated: Dec. 13, 2016, 7:12 p.m. | Published: Dec. 13, 2016, 6:12 p.m.


By Barbara Miller | bmiller@pennlive.com

Drivers in Pennsylvania face the third and last installment of gas tax increases Jan. 1 resulting from Act 89, a bipartisan effort to address a large backlog of highway and bridge repair needs in the state.

The increase in the tax is the equivalent of about eight cents per gallon, which is expected to generate $299 million more next year to fix roads and bridges and pay for state police protection on the highways.

(snip)

The current tax is about 50 cents per gallon, which will rise to about 58 cents in January. A federal excise tax adds another 18.4 cents, bringing the tax total to 76.4 cents.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/12/get_ready_for_another_gas_tax.html


I won't even get into the extra 2% sales tax that Philly adds onto the state's 6% sales tax for purchases in the city.

cstanleytech

(27,012 posts)
11. "It's base on what the market will bear." More like its based on how much
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 06:31 AM
Jul 2022

companies feel they can get away with on screwing their customers.

MichMan

(13,199 posts)
34. Analysis of the price of a manufactured product based solely on raw material costs is simplistic
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 09:52 AM
Jul 2022

That was the basis for my response to the OP. You may disagree completely with my statement.

I worked my entire career in manufacturing components for the auto industry. Ignoring the costs of labor, benefits, safety, infrastructure, transportation, compliance with regulations, state, local and federal taxes and a myriad of others doesn't mean they don't exist.

thesquanderer

(12,347 posts)
20. True. But also, there's a lag between falling oil price and falling gas price,
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 07:50 AM
Jul 2022

because gas stations (and the refineries who are warehousing it on the way to the gas stations) sell the gas they have based on what they already paid for it.

When oil goes up, gasoline companies may (or may not) raise their prices some based on anticipating what it will cost them to replenish... but once they own the gasoline, they are loathe to lower the price until they get their profit on the stuff they own that they have already paid the earlier higher price for. Welcome to capitalism, heads you lose, tails we win!

multigraincracker

(34,087 posts)
21. Seems like when it goes up,
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 07:56 AM
Jul 2022

every station raises the price on the same day to the same price. When it drops, it’s slow and varies.

KS Toronado

(19,579 posts)
22. I don't see how a windfall profit tax will help us in the midterms
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 07:57 AM
Jul 2022

Consumers want to see the price of gas go back to a reasonable rate they can afford. Taxing oil companies
would just put money into the government coffers, not the pockets of consumers who are getting ripped off.

Love to see a Democratic Strategist come up with an idea using the emergency powers Presidents are
afforded to stop (or limit) big oil from exporting until the Ukraine/Russia war is over.

Lowering the pump price should help us immensely in the midterms. IMO

Response to KS Toronado (Reply #22)

Bernardo de La Paz

(50,922 posts)
31. Utter nonsense, unworkable, a waste of time to propose
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 08:24 AM
Jul 2022

1) They will not sell at a price where they lose money on every gallon.

2) If forced to sell at losses they will sue for compensation and will get it.

What "war powers act"? The last one lapsed in 1946.

You don't know what you are talking about.

multigraincracker

(34,087 posts)
35. There is no competition when a few large companies
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 10:22 AM
Jul 2022

own the whole process, from drilling, refining to retail sales. Bust the trust. Beak them up into smaller companies that will be forced to compete.
Adam Smith, the father of Capitalism who wrote the book, Wealth of Nations said that regulation are necessary to prevent monopolies and he was correct, until the radical Free Market concept replaced classical Capitalism with the likes of Ayn Rand and the Chicago School of Economics. Now the rich get richer and the poor and middle class get poorer. How would you correct that fact?

BumRushDaShow

(142,387 posts)
26. I had posted one such comparison in a different thread
Wed Jul 6, 2022, 08:05 AM
Jul 2022
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216824553

posted here - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16824751

in July 2008, the price hit a high of $128.08/bbl - https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=f000000__3&f=m



Yet the average price of gasoline at the time was $4.11/gal - https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&f=m



Definitely a "what the market will bear" (although one would need to consider factoring in the reduction of refineries of late).

What I did find while researching, was that CA had a nice breakdown of costs to get the stuff to the pump - https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/transportation-energy/estimated-gasoline-price-breakdown-and-margins

Gasoline Price Breakdown

This page details the estimated gross margins for both refiners and distributors. The term "margin" includes both costs and profits. The margin data is based on the statewide average retail and wholesale price of gasoline for a single day of the week. It is not a seven-day average. The margin provided here is an indicator for the California market as a whole and not for any particular refiner or retailer of gasoline.

The Energy Commission cannot estimate profit margins based on average retail prices and observed wholesale market prices. This is because detailed data on refining and distribution costs, costs paid by approximately 10,000 retail locations, hundreds of wholesale marketers, jobbers, and distributors is not available.

Refiner Margin

Refiner Margin (costs and profits) is calculated by subtracting the market price for crude oil from the wholesale price of gasoline. The result is a gross refining margin which includes the cost of operating the refinery as well as the profits for the refining company.

The price of crude oil is based on the daily market price for crude oil from the Alaska North Slope published in the Wall Street Journal©. The market price of crude oil also includes its own share of costs and profits. In the case of a vertically integrated oil company, the same company that owns and operates the oil field also owns and operates the refinery. Several vertically integrated oil companies operate in California including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. For simplicity, the refining margins shown are based on producing one barrel of gasoline from one barrel of crude oil. No adjustments are made for other refined products.


In fact, they had a nice little table to show the breakdown (below was as of my original post date of 6/22/22 and the link is dynamic so the costs may change each week) -

Estimated Gasoline Price Breakdown and Margins

June 13, 2022

Branded | Unbranded

Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs and Profits | $0.56 | $0.56
Crude Oil Costs | $3.00 | $3.00
Refinery Cost and Profit | $1.85 | $1.85
State Underground Storage Tank Fee | $0.02 | $0.02
State and Local Tax | $0.14 | $0.14
State Excise Tax | $0.511 | $0.511
Federal Excise Tax| $0.184 | $0.184
Retail Prices| $6.27 | $6.27
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