Regular gasoline at $4.29/gal? It's already here, for a reason...

[Matsubara]

Station jacks up gas prices in protest
Dealer says tactics used by Shell are unfair to operators
C.W. Nevius
Thursday, May 10, 2007

It has become almost a regular stop for San Francisco tourists. Once they've seen the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid, they can drive down Harrison Street to see the most amazing sight of all.
Regular gas for $4 a gallon.
Actually, it is higher than that. At Bob Oyster's Shell station at Sixth and Harrison, regular is $4.33 a gallon, plus is $4.43, and "V-Power'' is $4.53. Motorists can be seen rolling their eyes as they drive by. Just another example of a greedy station owner, sticking his customers for all they are worth?
Not really.
There's a much deeper story here, and it begins with Oyster, a respected, self-made businessman who turned a single station into Oyster Petroleum, a profitable firm in Redwood City. Oyster is nobody's fool. Don't think he isn't well aware that the Chevron station across the street is selling regular for 70 cents less.
Putting the price way up over $4 a gallon isn't about making a profit. It's about making a statement to a multinational corporation. After Shell forced him to pay higher prices for gas in San Francisco and jacked up his rent, Oyster says, he decided to fight back.
"I got fed up,'' Oyster admits. "It makes a statement, and I guess when people see that price they also see the Shell sign right next to it.''
In fact, far from making a huge profit, Oyster is going out of business. He has operated the Shell station at Sixth and Harrison for 22 years, but he's walking away from it at the end of the month, handing over the keys to Shell officials and expecting them to shut it down.

(Cont'd at link)



I've read of tons of cases of this, especially involving shell. They jack up the wholesale prices forcing dealers to charge high prices, and of course it's the dealers who have to deal with the irate consumers. They can scarcel make enough to stay open.

F-U, ShellExxonMobilBP, etc.

[ComerPerro]

1. That is really cool.

[liberal N proud]

2. Here is an email I got last night...

Something I have been doing on my own for several years - at least since bu$h took office.

This could work if we all join together.
Read below in order to effect gas prices.



Join the resistance! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that's going around last April or May!The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap.Me too! It is currently $3.19 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace.Not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two of the biggest oil companies (which now are one), EXXON & MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 10 days!!!


Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

[bigscott]

3. this cannot and will not work

not that I am against the idea but it wont work - if you dont buy your gas from Exxon/shell/BP etc etc that is wonderful. So now you buy it at the Dairy mart down the street. Great. Where do you think Dairy mart buys their gas? Last time I checked there was no Dairy Mart Oil Company. That's right, they buy from Shell and Exxon and BP. The only way gas prices will drop is if there are alternative energy sources. If everybody biked to work or walked to work or used mass transit, prices MIGHT come down a little - but dont hold your breath - every barrel of oil the USA does not buy is one more barrel the Chinese WILL buy.

[Sherman A1]

4. Agreed

The boycotts (whichever version you like) will have no effect, however we can al make a slight difference, not so much to prices, but to how much comes out of our wallets by doing everything we can to conserve and recycle everything possible. I see that right now as our only short term alternative.

[liberal N proud]

5. I realize that, this is the same thing as the efforts to not buy gas on the 15th

But at the same time, there is always the buy blue campaigns and unions are always running boycotts.

[Matsubara]

6. I tend to agree, but that doesn't mean prices aren't too high.

The congress should be imposing per-gallon profit limits - the profits the oil companies have reaped at our expense, using the excuse of demand, when the truth is that the supply is there, but they are deliberately shutting down/limiting refinery capacity, then jacking up the prices they charge dealers for petrol. The proof is in their bulging balance books. I realize oil exploration is not cheap and won't be getting any cheaper, but the inevitable price increases should be kept gradual so as not to put an undue burden or working people and businesses. What they're doing now is no different than what Enron did back in 2000.

[lonestarnot]

7. Park in a Costco line.