A realistic plan to get the gas prices rolled back...

[Imagevision]

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 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 sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 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!!!

It's really quite simple, just don't buy Mobil or Exxon, and spread it around! tada...!

[meisje]

1. THREE HUNDRED MILLION useless spam emails

[Imagevision]

5. use common logic, simply don't purchase Exxon or Mobil is that

a biggie??

[MercutioATC]

28. Exxon and Mobil sell to everybody else...

Buy from another station? You'll still be buying Exxon and Mobil gasoline.

[Nomad559]

2. Snopes

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

[Berserker]

31. I have tried to explain this in many

different posts.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp
Oil companies can manipulate their prices somewhat by controlling how much gasoline they produce and where they sell it, but they can't alter the basics of supply and demand: prices go down when people buy less of a good, prices go up when people buy more of a good, and prices go way up when demand outstrips available supply. The "gas out" schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two specific brands of gasoline for a while won't work, however, because they're based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for gasoline is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: gasoline is a fungible commodity, so if one oil company's product isn't being bought up in one particular market or outlet, it will simply sell its output to (or through) other outlets:
The bold part is fact. No matter who you buy your gas from you are STILL buying gas from THEM.

[Imagevision]

3. PS. Don't be surprised if this thread disappears...

[peacetalksforall]

4. I endorse this because I already do this. I get to go to Citgo.

I haven't driven into an Exxon/Mobil station in six years. They don't miss me, but I don't care.

Does anyone know where Costco gets their gas?

[Imagevision]

6. Citgo, now there's a fine brand, anyone but Exxon & Mobil

Think of Cheney and Bush when you see Exxon & Mobil who by the way, were the first two oil cpmpanies to receive the first oil shipment out of Iraq...!

[peacetalksforall]

8. Chevron and BP/Amoco, also .. nt.

[AngryAmish]

12. On the market

Gasoline is a commodity.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Thanks For Posting The #1 Hottest Absurdity On Snopes Right Now!

Yup. This has now become snopes #1 hottest topic.

[Imagevision]

9. Absurdity? - if they received a million less purchases in one day, are you

good with figures and besides, it's no big deal, just don't buy from the companies who financed Bush's re-election campaign, this makes no sense to you folks?

[tritsofme]

11. See post 10.

The demand for gasoline stays the same, the extra supply will have to come from somewhere, namely the company that everyone is "boycotting"

[Imagevision]

16. The demand for gasoline stays the same? but not for Mobil & Exxon

for openers, do you think this screws up delivery trucks enroute with no where to drop the gas because the demand for Mobil & Exxon would decrease daily.

[tritsofme]

36. If nobody bought gas from Exxon, overall gasoline would be more scarce

Because demand in the overall gasoline market is going to stay about the same no matter what you do.

This would drive prices up everywhere else, and leave Exxon with a glut of supply.

This would put the Exxon corporation in the drivers seat as they could sell their excess gas to other stations at the newly inflated prices.

The only people this sort of scheme would hurt is the small business owner that runs invidual gas stations.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. Yes. Absurdity. Please Eductate Yourself Further On The Topic.

In fact, just go to snopes.com. It's the number one hottest absurdity in fact LOL

[Imagevision]

18. OPERATIONMINDCRIME> went to snopes- bottomline, it'll work, suggest you

read the entire article.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

20. LMAO Whatever Floats Your Boat

Have at it!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. It's like a reverse pyramid scheme.

Yeah, it makes sense, that's the problem with it.

[Imagevision]

21. Gawd!! what, does yopur vehicle run better on Mobil-Exxon??

No wonder Dems never get anywhere...bitch and moan and not willing to get off their asses and at least try something versus complaining and zero!

[tritsofme]

10. Guess who Exxon would sell their excess gas to?

The demand stays the same overall in the market, and the other companies would be looking for additional supply, which could be provided by Exxon.

[Imagevision]

23. The demand stays the same? - even when you sell less then the competition?

I disagree, if everyone is shopping up the street, like it or not it effects your bottomline, let it happen nationwide? -- you say; "The demand stays the same overall in the market" hardly...!

[Initech]

15. Impossible. Even if we were successfully able to boycott Exxon/Mobil...

And I'm talking about regular people, the behemoth still has a stranglehold on the military and aviation fuel markets, there's no way in hell that could bankrupt them.

[Imagevision]

17. NO boycott, simply choose another supplier, what's the big issue??

[Initech]

19. They have other customers besides motorists.

[Imagevision]

24. They have other customers besides motorists? pessimism isn't my schtick

[Initech]

35. What do I have to say besides THIS WILL NOT WORK?

[Imagevision]

25. Do you own stock in Exxon-Mobil??

[MercutioATC]

29. That's a ridiculous (and insulting) question.

The idea is silly. It will NOT work.

Pointing that out means somebody has an allegiance to Exxon-Mobil?

[Initech]

34. Hell no.

Actually, I dont own stock in any company whatsoever, they can kiss my ass.

[stepnw1f]

22. Citgo Only Here

Let it go to a country that gives a shit about it's people. Good deeds should be rewarded.

[Imagevision]

26. Doesn't inconvenience to try... try some damn thing instead of pessimism

[jmowreader]

27. How Gas is Sold Wholesale

I run Acme Oil Company. I own a refinery.

I sell three kinds of gas. The first is Acme Gas. My petroleum engineer formulated an additive package I put in Acme Gas that makes it unique. This gas I sell at Acme stations.

I then sell custom-formulated gas. Sunny Day Oil Company doesn't own a refinery, but they have their own petroleum engineer who develops additive packages to make Sunny Day Gas unique. I put Sunny Day's additive package in some of the gas I make and ship it to Sunny Day stations.

And then there's feedstock. This is gas with no additive package. It's pretty much useless the way it sits. I ship this to two classes of customers: bulk plants buy it and mix it with various convenience store chains' additive packages, and other refiners buy it to supplement their own output. Because if White Horse Oil Company can refine 5 million gallons of gas per day, but they sell 5.5 million gallons to consumers, they must get half a million gallons of gas from somewhere. That "somewhere" is someone else's refinery.

If Acme Oil Company can sell feedstock, ExxonMobil can sell feedstock. If Acme can make custom blends of fuel for refinery-free oil companies, so can ExxonMobil.

The big trend in the convenience store industry is unbranding--buying gasoline or blendstock on the open market. If this "don't buy ExxonMobil gas" thing really took hold, watch for lots of ExxonMobil stations to unbrand. This doesn't mean you won't have ExxonMobil fuel in your tank, but you won't know it's there if it is.

IOW, this is all a game of semantics.

[Imagevision]

30. jmowreader, if millions of people switched to say, Citgo would this in

fact be irelevant to say, Exxon-Mobil??

[jmowreader]

37. Somewhat

No petroleum company that makes and retails gasoline for use in ground vehicles is solely dependent on sales of branded mogas for its survival. ExxonMobil is a huge player in chemicals. Gulf is the world's leader in gel explosives for mining. Citgo is the world's largest producer of paraffin wax. Sunoco makes massive quantities of bisphenol-A, which is a key ingredient in polycarbonates (CDs and bulletproof glass are polycarbonates) and epoxies. BP is the top player in acetyls (acetic acid and acetone) and polyester intermediates. And so on. This is in addition to the traditional diesel, jet fuel, lubricant and heating oil markets all petroleum companies have traded in since there were petroleum companies.

There's also the unbranded and custom-formulated gasoline market. If everyone who today fuels up at ExxonMobil started buying gas from Citgo, Citgo would need a lot of gasoline to meet their needs--more than they could probably make. (A chemical plant or an oil refinery has a finite capacity--try to exceed it and bad things like explosions, fires and low-quality or unusable products are your reward.) ExxonMobil is more than willing to sell Citgo all the gas it needs, and they'll make it with the same additive package Citgo uses so all Citgo needs to do is distribute it.

But look, all this is pseudoeconomic bullshit anyway. Petroleum companies don't have loyal customers anymore. There used to be such things, when some brands were better than others. Today, most gasoline buyers go for the lowest price since the product works equally well no matter whose name--or any name--is on the pump. Assume all the stations labeled Exxon or Mobil vanished--either went unbranded or closed. ExxonMobil would still sell a massive amount of fuel.

It could even be better for ExxonMobil if the branded stations closed--this way they're not managing property, they're just selling fuel.

[MazeRat7]

32. As so many have already stated... the markets doesn't work like that....

A boycott of one or two producers would be impossible to execute.

MZr7

[Kansas Wyatt]

33. Why doesn't someone just post the executive members

Of all the oil corporations to the public, and everyone can jack up the price for all goods and services sold to them.