Relief at the pumps.....kinda

[Tuna]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

While this is still supply and demand, its also horse-****.

Haha, so eloquent yet so potty mouth.

it's pretty crazy how the whole thing works, I hardly know anything but if you look into how they divy up the oil coming out of the piplines and things is crazy. It's almost like banking today, so much of it does not require physical cash for a transaction and each company monitors how much they put into the system etc. etc.

I think the oil industry is one of the best legal scams of all time (now if only I could get into the industry i'd be set)

[James]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

now if only I could get into the industry i'd be set

Amen brother, Im workin I.T in retail...while IT is an overpaid profession in general, retail sure ain't so it balances out...but if I was workin downtown doin my exact same job for an oil company? Easily 20k/yr more.

whats-his-face (encana CEO) got over 20mil. for a bouns year..Unforseen high profits...Well when you spend millions on market/trend analysis you DON'T get "unforseen" anything...so tell me again they dont control oil prices

[Kor]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

Many things about the oil companies are publicly misunderstood, and often the oil companies are more innocent than people would like to believe.

However, they are a lot like banks, as Jason observed. A lot is decided at a high level between industry executives and those decisions can very much trickle down to the common gas-buyer.

I have had all too much exposure to this being the child of an oil company exec... So on one hand I know some of the little-known facts that are quite outrageous, and on the other hand, I know that a lot of the outrage is based on little fact!

[Khyron]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

Oil is relatively cheap right now but you have to refine it. Something like 25% of USA refineries are still offline. Also, diesel output was put on the backburner to refine more gas to prevent more speculation and pump running.

Yah there's shady stuff going on all the time, but there's also a lot of non cooperating people involved and a lot of people watching.

Khyron

[R-Audi]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

James:
Last time I checked this wasn't "NewVeeJAMES" and was a public forum, so it is open for anyone to vent, and for anyone to comment as they please. If you did pass 8th grade, why dont you use some of the things they taught you to make an intelligent comment? Were you one of those "my fists solve problems types? Grow up.

[QUOTE=Kor]Note: executives can control supply. For example, shutting down a refinery, or choosing to ship product by different methods within Canada (truck, rail, pipe).
QUOTE]

Looking at your first point, and our current high gas prices:
The refineries in US that were shut down because of the Hurricanes have greater production then all of Canada. There is nothing that anyone could do about that, and untill those refineries are back on line, supply will be limited.Some will be down for periods around 1 year.
Public companies are not able just to shut something down for no reason. (Especially when it makes money) Coud it happen? Of course, but have they? Not that I have seen... (Speaking locally of course, thats my experience base)


I am in the O&G business, and it is partly due to the company I work for being a trust, but the prices that we sell at are set by the market. We are only able to sell at the daily averages, as most the major public companies in Calgary. (Public companies cant take much price risk, and most ended up losing money due to hedging accounting wise most of the time)

If you read about other factors that have been major influences lately they include weather, conflict in Iran and the fact that we are coming into peak season for consumption. None of those factors have any influence from Oil execs downtown calgary. Unforseen? You tell me someone that can estimate having multiple 100yr storms in the O&G area in the States.. Iran nuclear threat.. etc etc.. see my point?

Another thing, when Oil prices were around the $20 mark, you didnt see anyone offering help, or getting the government to make inquires.. Also that $400 check you will be recieving... Think that would happen without the high Oil prices? Nope, they are from Royalties...

[James]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

James:
Last time I checked this wasn't "NewVeeJAMES"...

But it should be, my friends.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

nvr!!!

[R-Audi]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

lol....

[Deuce]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

...so tell me again they dont control oil prices

They don't control oil prices. Or well... whatever, who cares... if it gets 45% of the Frickin' SUV's that tower over my GTi off the road... I'm happy. I'll gladly pay a few extra hundred dollars a year to rid the streets of Calgary of SUV's and Ford F-754,640-50's!!!

[Kor]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

James:
Public companies are not able just to shut something down for no reason. (Especially when it makes money) Coud it happen? Of course, but have they? Not that I have seen... (Speaking locally of course, thats my experience base)

...

Firstly, I believe a lot, if not the majority of the gas used in Canada is refined in Canada.

Secondly, one decision that execs DID make right now is to concentrate on producing more gas than diesel. That is why diesel is inflated relative to gas... more diesel could be produced if less gas was produced. However, gas is given priority. Jet fuel is also inflated in price for this same reason.

Thirdly, of course not for no reason. However, there are issues that gas companies have to deal with. Maintenance. Upgrades. To a certain extent these things can be scheduled be management decisions.

[R-Audi]

Re: Relief at the pumps.....kinda

Firstly, I believe a lot, if not the majority of the gas used in Canada is refined in Canada.

Secondly, one decision that execs DID make right now is to concentrate on producing more gas than diesel. That is why diesel is inflated relative to gas... more diesel could be produced if less gas was produced. However, gas is given priority. Jet fuel is also inflated in price for this same reason.

Thirdly, of course not for no reason. However, there are issues that gas companies have to deal with. Maintenance. Upgrades. To a certain extent these things can be scheduled be management decisions.

I'm not exactly sure tha ratio of gas produced/used is in Canada. IAs stated before though, i do know that Canada has less refining capacity then the units that were knocked off line due to the hurricanes. Seeing that we produce way more O&G the the US, I would assume a mopjority of our product is shipped to the US.
Execs do have to make decisions on what to produce at certain times, and it is not on purpose to gouge anyone. Right before the peak of heating season? They are going to focus on heating oil and gas.. before major holidays Im sure its the same with gas and Diesel. If one segment has a higher demand they would be silly not to produce more of that.
For the turnarounds (Maintenance) they do have control over when the times are booked, but they are booked at least a year in advance.. with at least the company that I work for, with any major scheduled turnaround, they rent replacement equipment to insure their losses are minimized.