A different take on $4 gas...

[MonacoMike]

I love the perspectives of John Stossel...

" Gas Myths

Plan to drive more this summer? Annoyed by the price of gas? Complaining that oil companies rip you off?

I say, shut up. Even if gas costs $4 per gallon, we should thank Big Oil. Think what they have to do to bring us gas.

Oil must be sucked out of the ground, sometimes from war zones or deep beneath oceans. The drills now bend and dig sideways through as much as 7 miles of earth. What they discover must be pumped through billion-dollar pipelines and often put in monstrously expensive tankers to ship across the ocean.

Then it's refined into several types of gasoline, transported in trucks that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Finally, your local gas station must spend a fortune on safety devices to make sure we don't blow ourselves up while filling the tank.

And it still costs less per ounce than the bottled water sold at gas stations. If government sold gas, it would cost $40 per gallon. And there would be shortages!

Another myth: Big Oil makes "excess" profit. Nonsense. The oil business is fiercely competitive. If one company charges a penny too much, other companies steal its business. Apple's profit margin is about 24 percent. McDonald's makes 20 percent. Oil companies make half that.

Per gallon, ExxonMobil makes about 7 cents. Governments, by contrast, grab about 27 cents per gallon. That's the average gas tax. If anyone takes too much, it's government. "

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2013/05/29/gas-myths-n1607745

 

[Summer Fun II]

Hey Mike & Scott, Buy a smaller boat/car/truck and don't worried about the price of gas. :smt001

 

[AMFM3]

Gas is 5.80 a gallon here in BC. That's in round numbers as I simply multiplied the $1.45 a litre by 4. Count your blessings gang! That's for vehicles! It's well over $7 at the marina pumps...

mark

 

[IanBat]

Gas is 5.80 a gallon here in BC. That's in round numbers as I simply multiplied the $1.45 a litre by 4. Count your blessings gang! That's for vehicles! It's well over $7 at the marina pumps...

mark

Yep, we're on about a par with that. Dropped to around $1.35 pL last week, but has been running around $1.60 and up. Currently $1.90 at the marina


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[BritLady]

The below table is very interesting for comparing what other countries pay (US$ per US liter): $.97 in US and $2.17 in UK...yikes $8.68 per gal! Just remembered another reason we moved Mind you, think I will give Venezuela, RB a miss although it's only $.08 a gal!

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EP.PMP.SGAS.CD

 

[rcon]

Ouch, Ian. The two marinas I use, North Haven and Marina St Vincent (Wirrina) are both $1.65/l

 

[IanBat]

Ouch, Ian. The two marinas I use, North Haven and Marina St Vincent (Wirrina) are both $1.65/l

Bit expensive for me to run there!

Our Marina was running $2 a litre, with the fuel price drop over the last few weeks it has dropped to $1.90.

I keep thinking of an easy way to fill around 500-700L at a service station and transfer it to the boat.

700L with a present difference of around .50c a L is a pretty fair saving!


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[rcon]

now if you had that diesel fly bridge .... ;p



(or a blow boat!)

 

[kaz911]

The below table is very interesting for comparing what other countries pay (US$ per US liter): $.97 in US and $2.17 in UK...yikes $8.68 per gal! Just remembered another reason we moved Mind you, think I will give Venezuela, RB a miss although it's only $.08 a gal!

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EP.PMP.SGAS.CD

Interesting table - thanks! Well it shows the US is still the cheapest western country to buy gasoline in. But I can not complain - my price is $0.47/l vs us of $0.97/l

 

[IanBat]

now if you had that diesel fly bridge .... ;p



(or a blow boat!)

Yep, it's only about $2.30 per L on the water! Plus maintenance. And when I go to diesels, footitis will no doubt have set in, so I will be using more diesel than I what I now use in petrol anyway!

On the other side, I do know of at least 2 people that will turn up to the local boat ramp, 2 minutes from my marina, with a fuel truck (diesel) and fuel you up at bowser prices.


Kaz.
Forgive me if I am wrong but 0.47c per litre, and aren't the wages a fair bit higher than the US as well? Or does the rest of the cost of living eat that up?


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[rcon]

Diesel is more expensive on the water? Wow. It's about 10-15c/l cheaper down here. They just don't get the gas volume they need , or so they tell me.

There are also a couple of spots on Kangaroo Island where they'll come fill you but only diesel, same with south side of KI, only diesel at the dock. Gas you have to walk it from the servo (10min). York Peninsular has no pumps at all so it's also walk from servo (5min).

Diesel dream for me over here is also about range.... :s

 

[kaz911]

Yep, it's only about $2.30 per L on the water! Plus maintenance. And when I go to diesels, footitis will no doubt have set in, so I will be using more diesel than I what I now use in petrol anyway!

On the other side, I do know of at least 2 people that will turn up to the local boat ramp, 2 minutes from my marina, with a fuel truck (diesel) and fuel you up at bowser prices.


Kaz.
Forgive me if I am wrong but 0.47c per litre, and aren't the wages a fair bit higher than the US as well? Or does the rest of the cost of living eat that up?


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We currently pay AED 1.72 pr. litre - / 3.67 = US$ 0.47

The cost of living (like in the west) eats a lot. Rents are very expensive. But not car taxes and no fuel taxes - actually the government subsidise fuel - so they pay I think about 25% of the real cost of the fuel. The argument is UAE is a oil producing country and that is a way to give something back to the population. But if you look at the other fuel producing countries around us - the prices are actually cheaper than the UAE. But Diesel is comparatively a lot more expensive here - about US$ 0.9/l and the argument has been it was only used in trucks - so no need to subsidise it. So it is actually cheaper to use petrol powered boats here....

But to find qualified Mercruiser mechanics is another story... If you can find any good ones - they are VERY expensive. And then there are the brand cars - they charge the same in repair pr hour as the west - but use quite a lot cheaper Indian labour.

 

[alwhite00]

How come when oil was $98.00/Barrel a few years ago gas was $2.75 and they were blaming the high prices on the $$$ per barrel and now oil has been running in the high $90.00's and we are over $4.00 - I wonder what the excuse is now?

LK

 

[rcon]

Currency exchange rates id imaging. Can't print all that money and not inflate some value away.....

 

[kaz911]

Well the "hidden" inflation in the US is what is happening. Your government in the US is friendly enough to lie about how high your inflation really is. That is part of your Quantitative Ease program - so people get happier and spend more.

 

[Mattwalker]

Average price in Aus is $6.80 per gallon - you guys are doing OK

 

[WDCboater]

Gas is $4 at our marina in DC. One thing to point out is that it's 89 octane. That's mid-grade on the street, and about what mid grade is running these days.

I was in Turks and Caicos in April and they pay $6.50/gallon on the street for 87. And that's in US dollars.

As for why the price of oil and gas seem different, worldwide demand is helping drive the price of retail gasoline. The amount of oil and gas being used in China and India is skyrocketing.

Also, when you compare the cost of $3 gas to $4 gas, yes you pay a $1 more per gallon. But let's say you're filling up a 50 gallon gas tank. The difference is only $50. If you fill your boat's tank a few times a season your're talking about a few hundred dollars more per season. Obviously more with bigger tanks. While not inexpensive, a few hundred dollars for all of the enjoyment you get on the water is worth it.

 

[AMFM3]

Great points Ryan! We're fortunate at our marina that we have both 89 and 92 octane.

We are a fuel consuming people.

Mark


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[jobofly]

How come when oil was $98.00/Barrel a few years ago gas was $2.75 and they were blaming the high prices on the $$$ per barrel and now oil has been running in the high $90.00's and we are over $4.00 - I wonder what the excuse is now?

LK

Greed

 

[Mike Blake]

3.38 on land here I use 7 5 galln cans a trip