Author Topic: Interesting take on gas prices  (Read 396 times)

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Offline guzzijohn

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Offline Dixie Dude

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2012, 10:04:42 AM »
Only silver lining I see in this is jobs for building pipeline, and exports help balance the trade deficit with money coming into the country instead of leaving the country.  The US and Germany are the two biggest chemical producers in the world.  Lots of refined products from oil.  Not just lubricating oils, but also plastics and other chemicals, like insectacides, fertilizers, chemicals for drug manufacturing, cleaning fluids, paint thinners, paints, carbon composite materials.  We do need to provide more jobs here.  We may export more oil based products, but we still import oil to make these products.  If we drilled more of our own, our trade deficit would fall, and so would oil prices producing a glut on the world market.  Thus the price of gasoline would have to drop.  Brent crude which is "sweet" oil is easier to refine, but if BP can't sell it because of a glut, the price would drop. 
 
Another way to drop the price it to switch fleets to CNG (compressed natural gas) at $1.84/gal equiv.  Cleaner and lower priced.  This would help gasoline come down.  Competition always helps keep prices low.  25% of vehicles are in fleets.  Most fleets are government vehicles.  City trucks, buses, school buses, utility trucks.  Then there is UPS and Fed Ex trucks along with the postal delivery trucks.  Take this 25% off oil, you would see a drastic price drop along with opening up drilling and building pipelines.  Too much competition will make prices drop. 

Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2012, 10:35:26 AM »
And if you have NG at home you could have a pump installed to fill your vehicle .
If ya can see it ya can hit it !

Offline Dixie Dude

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2012, 05:21:30 AM »
Honda sells a NGV that comes with a home fill slow compressor with cylinder (about the size of a water heater).  It takes 8 hours to slow fill.  Range for this small car is only about 100-125 miles.  Unless they install quick fill large compressors at service stations, this makes this only a commuter car.  Cost is between a gas and hybrid.  Our marketing people use them. Only public fill stations are in Birmingham and Montgomery though.  In Birmingham the station gets a lot of business.  The bus system uses CNG as well as the postal trucks, gas company trucks, and UPS.  So someone is allways filling at $1.84 per gallon. 

Offline Dixie Dude

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2012, 10:53:43 AM »
Sometimes I think our government as well as foreign governments have allowed companies to get "to big" or "to big to fail".  This isn't capitalism.  It is Oligarthy.  I remember growing up having gas wars at $0.19-$0.20 per gallon of gas.  Of course my little town had Texaco, Amoco, Gulf, Sinclair, Pure, Esso, Chevron, Union 76, Mobil, Shell, and numerous smaller service stations.  Lots of competition.  BP bought up Texaco, Amoco, and Gulf in my town.  Exxon bought up Esso, Mobil, and who knows what others.  5 oil companies in America control 85% of gasoline sales.  There are 50,000 different natural gas companies in America.  Much more competition, we just can't get the oil companies to install compressors for natural gas.  Have to have the infrastructure before Detroit will make NG vehicles.  Oil companies do not really care if they find natural gas with the oil, the either burn it off or sell it to transmission companies.  However natural gas is found in shale rock formations, coal formations, with oil, and by itself, thus it is more plentiful. 

Offline BBF

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2012, 10:31:13 AM »
I feel so safe now on your highways knowing that there are a number of potential bombs on the loose.
Gasoline and Propane are bad enough, now Natural Gas under high compression. :o
What is the point of Life if you can't have fun.

Offline Dixie Dude

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2012, 01:07:42 AM »
The compressed natural gas is in the same cylinders as oxygen, acetyline, etc.  I have seen tests where a rifle bullet can't penetrate them.  Even if there was a break or leak, natural gas is ligher than air and will rise to the upper atmosphere.  Propane is a liquid under 10 psig pressure, but becomes a heavy gas like gasoline and settles low to the ground if spilled or released.  Same with diesel.  Even the batteries on electrics are subject to fires and explosions.  No truely safe transportation fuel from fire or explosion, except horse and buggy. 

Offline no guns here

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Re: Interesting take on gas prices
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2012, 03:57:32 AM »
Even on the horse and buggy there is some pretty explosive methane...
 
 
NGH
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