Don't buy gas from:

[Trixie]

Has anyone one else been receiving this e-mail campaign? I've gotten two exhortations from two separate acquaintances this week... both urging me to pass the word on: Do not buy gas from Exxon or Mobil.

The theory is this- The OPEC nations and the oil companies have realized that they can charge whatever they like for their products, and believe that the consumer will pay whatever they ask. And, history lately has proven them correct... who among you drivers out there is willing to stop driving altogether to protest the price of gas?

No... the oil companies don't imagine you would either.

However this new act of economic disobedience proposes that if a huge, huge number of gasoline consumers were to boycott just two of the major oil companies- the instigators have chosen Exxon and Mobil -to the point where their market shares begin to decline, then these two companies would have no choice other than to lower their prices. This theoretically would cause a chain reaction in the oil industry, as competitors scrambled to match prices. The propositors of this idea suggest that forcing a price war could well see gas prices drop to 1.50 or so per gallon by 2006.

It's an interesting theory... and of course the ideas of "sticking it to the man" and "Showin' him who's boss" are always appealing. But there's something about this idea that seems askew. God only knows that if push came to shove, the major oil companies would much rather orchestrate massive layoffs in the petroleum and automotive industries and even plunge the country into a recession before dropping the price of their product even one cent.

Yes, if push came to shove, the oil companies would shove very, very hard, I believe.

What do you all think of this idea?

 

Trix

[+ deej]

It's an interesting theory, but it won't hold water. <sigh>

 

Today's "at the pump" prices are based on speculative "futures". Consumers can no more move them than we can get the Catholic church to disband.

 

>who among you drivers out there is willing to stop driving

>altogether to protest the price of gas?

 

I've done it before. Didn't drive a car for 20 years and only recently started. I don't like it, but I CAN walk to work (or ride a bike). For the first 8 months I lived here, I rode a bike to work every day. (My butt has never been firmer. ;-))

 

There's a large part of our population that COULD do without cars entirely, or could drive smaller cars than the massive SUV's or Hummers they drive. But they won't until it hurts enough to force their hand.

 

Americans don't pay anywhere near the prices Europeans are paying for gas, so I'm guessing it just doesn't hurt enough right now.

[+ bigjoey]

sorry, but oil is fungible; people would have to boycott ALL oil companies and cut usage for there to be any effect. oil is a world commodity and it is world demand that sets price.

 

actually, OPEC does not want a sustained high price as it would pull in alternate fuels and boost conservation which would hurt them in the long run.

 

since the first "oil shock" three decades ago, americans have mostly refused to do anything serious about consumption. we have had decades to prepare and done little.

 

frankly, the current increase has been demand driven by india and china. i travel to those places on business and they are booming. china's bicycle riders are being replaced by cars. new factories have diesel generators to make electric power as china's power grid is not reliable like ours. their rising living standard wants more plastics.

 

in supply demand situtations price will go up unless demand drops or supply increases. unfortunately, it will take years to bring new oil fields on line, build new refineries, etc. to increase supply and it will take years to "turn over" the stock of automobiles, people to insulate their houses, etc. to drop demand.

 

it's the old "ant and grasshopper" story and now the grasshopper will suffer.

[bigguyinpasadena]

I am geting email urging me to:a)do not buy gas on certain days-thursday seem to be the main one,or b)buy from citgo which is derived from oil from argentina.

The gasoline retailer WILL bow to consumer pressure.We have seen it before.

I have reigned in my driving a little bit.Canceled a road trip to Vegas this coming weekend(which was replacement for Southern Decadence.)

[trilingual]

A better reason to boycott Exxon and Mobil is that it's a rabidly anti-gay company. When they merged, one company recognized employees' domestic partners for health and other benefits. The other didn't. The merged company dropped its recognition of domestic partners and despite many contacts from Human Rights Campaign and other gay rights groups has refused to budge. Exxon/Mobil is the only one of the major petroleum (and one of the few Fortune 500) companies that doesn't offer domestic partner benefits. There's no reason for any gay person to give Exxon/Mobil their business, when all of their competitors treat their gay employees the way they deserve to be treated: on an equal footing with all their other employees!

[BobbyB]

>A better reason to boycott Exxon and Mobil is that it's a

>rabidly anti-gay company.

 

 

I was unaware of that. I'll pass the word...as well as their stations.

 

-BobbyB

[VaHawk]

So, when your vehicle needs gas, and 99% of the gas stations are closed because they don't have any gas, and the 1% open because they have gas is the BIGGEST gasoline provider aka Exxon/Mobil, then does that mean your righteousness will cause you to park your vehicle and walk? Nah, didn't think so. :o

 

BTW: It was Exxon, not Mobil that squelched the partner benefits, but, then again what does that say about Mobil except that their very own principles were just "lip service" as money rules! :-(