Would this work?

[leadfootlevi]

You will probably be seeing this in your e-mail soon, so I'll post it anyway. Do you think this would work - if you don't want to read the whole thing, the basic idea is to not buy gasoline from Exxon/Mobile and they will have to lower their prices.

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THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.30 PER GALLON.





This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. If you are tired of the gas prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read this please.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!
It's worth your consideration. 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.
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 $2.00 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.08 at Arco and Costco for regular unleaded in Salem , Oregon and climbing every week.

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 biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and 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.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician But I am . so trust me on this one.

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 8 days!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you! 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 $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
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Even if this worked, as soon as they lowered their prices $0.10 cents per gallon, everyone would go back to purchasing their gas there, and then they could just raise their prices again.

 

[sam_gordon]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

 

[SeansMom]

It seems reasonable. The question is, would people (being creatures of habit) actually do it?

 

[DawnM]

It would not work.....say the "no buy" day is Monday.....fine, I will just fill up Sunday, meaning the company will still make money from me.

Snopes explains it better...

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

What I have read on this is when you buy gas, just buy gas, no coffee, snacks, etc. The stores make very little on the gas they sell, its the other things that people buy when they stop for gas. There is a huge profit on coffee. So what would happen is the stores go out of business, therefore, the oil companies have no way of selling their product. I have actually read this someplace.

 

[pixiewings71]

These always go around when gas prices go higher....we are already almost at $4 a gallon, I paid $3.65 last week, sucks when it takes $75 to fill up the minivan. lol
Anyway, I don't buy either of those brands...so my not doing so wouldn't make any impact at all.....I just don't see how this would work.....

 

[JoiseyMom]

I never buy from those 2 companies anyway

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Exxon/Mobil has fingers everywhere. Stop buying gasoline from them? Yeah, ok, their gasoline profit goes down but their OVERALL income isn't really effected. Meh, they'll just raise the price of heating oil. Oh, and now the gas station that nobody's buying gas from closes and there are more people unemployed in your area.

The ONLY way to get gas prices to go down is to stop. using. gasoline. period. Low demand + high supply = lowered prices. Of course, in order to stop using gasoline, you'd have to start walking and/or riding a bicycle more. So.... not likely to happen en masse here in the US!

 

[Marionnette]

Gas prices are up due to the unrest in the Middle East and speculators driving the price of a barrel of oil up. It doesn't matter if you decide to buy your gas from Exxon or Walmart, the cost at the pump is more at the mercy of the global market swings than determined by some big oil executive raising prices on a whim.

 

[mrodgers]

What I have read on this is when you buy gas, just buy gas, no coffee, snacks, etc. The stores make very little on the gas they sell, its the other things that people buy when they stop for gas. There is a huge profit on coffee. So what would happen is the stores go out of business, therefore, the oil companies have no way of selling their product. I have actually read this someplace.

Not only this, but taxes elsewhere increase since the majority of gas prices are taxes. I don't even think the non-tax part of a gallon of gas is above $1.00 (probably wrong on that though.)

 

[jsmith]

if you REALLY want the price of gas to come down-this aint gonna do it. Pressure congress to pressure the president to allow more domestic production of oil so we are not dependant on Mexico ( unstable due to drugs) Venezula ( unstable due to crazy leadership) and the Middle East (unstable due to instability-seriously-they have been that way for 10 thousand years) for our oil and thus less at the mercy of speculation in the market. Driving companies like Exxon and Mobil which employ hundreds of thousands of americans at all levels from convience stores to excutives to " cut back" will only hurt our economy more.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yes they do make a profit from the gas. It all depends on how many gallons of gas they are selling. As managing a station for many yrs the one I worked at made 17 cents on the gallon. Yes alot of it comes from inside store sales. It wont make gas prices come down because the price of the barrel cost wont change. So regaurdless of who buy from some one is going to make the money.

 

[DVCLiz]

Anytime anybody sends me one of these things in my email, I make a point to go spend money at that store. I can't stand this kind of junk email and I refuse to participate in it.

 

[marie1203]

Gas prices are up due to the unrest in the Middle East and speculators driving the price of a barrel of oil up. It doesn't matter if you decide to buy your gas from Exxon or Walmart, the cost at the pump is more at the mercy of the global market swings than determined by some big oil executive raising prices on a whim.

Anytime anybody sends me one of these things in my email, I make a point to go spend money at that store. I can't stand this kind of junk email and I refuse to participate in it.

I agree! I just cant believe someone actually had the time to type things like that up. I also consider the junk email since most have false info. It is scary to think how easily people can be manipulated.

 

[SunnieRN]

My Dad worked for and retired from Shell Chemical, in CA. Within 15 miles of our house, there were 2 oil refineries. The price for gas in our area, was the highest in the country?!

What bothers me about the oil companies/gas companies is:

1) The profit margin made on a gallon of case for the companies vs the stations that sell the product. (Think farmers vs grocery store margins.)

2) The fact that gas prices are raised on SPECULATION. Do grocery stores raise prices in August, since it is predicted to be a hard winter? Just an example, probably not the best.

3) The number of barrels in storage. During Gas shortages in the past, when gas prices rose, companies had a HUGE problem trying to find enough room to store their glut of oil. Obviously there was not only NOT a shortage, but a overage of supply.

4) The oil they are refining, was bought MANY years ago, at a much lower cost. They are making double profits. Double dipping, so to speak, at the expense of the American public.Someone gave me the argument that they have to charge more immediately, if ther is any problem, as they have to buy oil at a higher price per barrel. Umm, alrighty then. The solution is actually that if the oil bigwigs, would go on a spending moratorium for a week, or 10 days, the price of oil WOULD decrease. TThe companies should also have an obligation to sell us our gasoline based on the price to produce it. Which means including the price of the oil they are refining.

There is a reason that grocers, pharmacies and gas stations have gotten in trouble/been fined, for price gouging, during an emergency.

I grew up, hearing all the arguments. Most of them are bunk. Oil refining is a profit business, which is not as well regulated by government as most people think. Try finding out how much of an oil reserve, the US has. Find out how long the bigwigs could continue to refine petroleum product, without replacing anything and function without a problem.

The only part of the puzzle, which can truly control the price of oil, is the big wig companies and of course the suppliers to them. If their lively hood is threatened, prices will drop. FAST. Of course for this to work, the most effectively, China, which has the largest growing demand for foreign oil, would also have to co operate. But China can not afford to buy ALL the oil produced.

This is of course all IMOO. But seeing what has happened in the past, with a small bit of knowledge from my Dad and his fellow co-workers, it makes sense.

 

[Colleen27]

No, it won't help. Gas reserves are up and demand is down but because it is traded as a commodity in a global marketplace pricing isn't a simple supply/demand equation - investor demand has a much more direct impact on oil prices than consumer demand, and because demand is fairly inflexible downward while other aspects of our economy are highly uncertain, oil is becoming an increasingly popular "can't lose" investment option.