And the profits roll......

I am just curious why our great state has the highest gas tax in the Southeast? It is absolutely bad for us. If you have driven down 40 lately towards GSO you will notice that the asphalt is actually popping up in areas. It is terrible.

 

Given that petroleum is a finite resource and the diversificaiton of finding an alternative would be the only way to stay in business, it seems Pirate understands economics better in this case.

Because service economies are not very strong for one thing.

Really? they will move the refineries overseas and ship the more volatile components instead of the crude? Why do they not do that now I wonder?
Maybe because it is not cost effective due to the added risks.

Seems to have a better understanding so far, but that is just looking at what is presented.

Odd that never stopped those Italian shoe importers, but the problem with a decline in manufacturing means there is no option for your next proposal ...

So, if there are no US manufactured goods where do you buy what you need other than from importation? So when are you taking that pay cut to start the wage drop that will allow the US to be more competitive?

 

it kinda goes without saying Wayne and I see pretty much the same on this one.

 

Again I work for some of these "Oil Companies", primarily in their Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Systems, not Quality or Financial. But I have talked to them about the pricing. At least for one of them Headquarters on a daily basis sets the rough price for gas. Absent things like refinery shutdowns or terrorist acts, they set gas prices based on through put at the refineries. The typical refinery has limited storage capacity and you cannot just dial back on capacity, so they set the price based on how well the product is moving.

If you hear gas is going to go up in price you start filling every gas tank you have, drawing down their inventory. Once you filled up it might be another week or two for you to fill up again, in the meantime they do not have to lower the price because they have line capacity to replenish. Once they start filling up their storage capacities they will start dropping the price again because they have too! Where the hell are they going to put it?

So the answer is stop purchasing gas and they will start lowering the price to get it moving, the problem is if you quit buying gas in the typical volumes that they produce they might cut back on capacity by shutting down less cost effective refineries which would then drive prices back up.

 

Great explanation! I am sure that the individual stations also have a factor in the price point and don't forget the options traders that have a huge impact.

 

I think "W" said we needed to build more refineries. We haven't had a new refinery built since the 70's right? I am not sure But I think that is what I heard.

 

Saw an article the other day where they stated that because of all the Ethanol production nobody is going to build a refinery.

 

Do they think that people are going to shove ears of corn in their fuel tanks???

Whether it's oil or ethanol, it still has to be refined before it can be used as an efficient fuel.

 

Ethanol plants are popping up all over the place, just saw one in Minnesota the other day.

My concern is that most that I have seen have pretty weak security.

 

How is it weak? Are the gates open without any guards? Do they give public tours through their R&D labs?

What may appear to be lax security, may not be so lax in reality. GSK here in the park looks like pretty lax security, but try to enter without authorization and you'll soon be surrounded by heavily armed security.

 

Unless you are like me and drive around the place lost. Could not find a guard even in the wrong areas. Told my brother that next time he better know where he needs to go or else no ride.

 

I think it is right that no new refineries have been built since the 70's, but most have probbaly added capacity thru expansion.

As a side note, i don't think corporatinos should pay any federal /state income taxes. Just property taxes on their facilities.

Also on another note, I beleive it is wrong for state & local gov't to give tax breaks to corporations to come. But it is always misunderstood how that works. They are not handed a check for say $100,000,000, but given a tax break on usually property taxes for that amount over a cetain number of years, based on certain conditions being met.

 

You are correct Sir!

 

The particular one that struck me last week was an evaluation as I drove by at 35 miles per hour. I was not paid to do an evaluation of this facility and I had places to be so I did not give them a fair evaluation. But from what I saw there was insufficient barriers to keep a truck bomb from entering the premises and heading for the storage tanks which were amazingly close to a fence line, which seemed to have insufficient barrier protection.

I do have a couple of clients who are putting these in and they are members of the American Chemistry Council (I do not work directly for this lobbyist group I do for another lobbying firm) which make sure that adequate security is put in place. My fears are that there are so many of these popping up and that if these folks do not adopt the Responsible CareTM or Responsible DistributionTM practices necessary to protect themselves and more importantly the other stakeholders in their processes.