Comments on: Gas Boycott of the Middle East

By: John

John — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:15 +0000

Ric, I’ve read your comment several times, and thought about your remarks. I’m not sure that the comments about $4 by summer are a self fulfilling prophecy. However, in some ways I believe the comments fueled (no pun intended) the speculators and investors to get in the market when gas was cheaper.

I’d be interested to review the charts you reference.

The more and more I think about taking a swing, the more and more I think it might be worth a shot.

However, I keep coming back to information that shows the inflation adjusted price of gasoline is still lower than the 1920 and early 1980s. http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/index.html

By: Ric Bertolo

Ric Bertolo — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:57:22 +0000

The charts that I saw showed that oil followed gas prices not the other way around. My conclusion is that Middle East saw the profits and decided not to miss out. Oil companies stated that they would like to see the price at about $4 by summer. Is this a self fulfilled prophecy or coincident? Remember Gulf? They were accused of causing the oil shortages of the mid 70’s. The boycott was on. Look what happened to them. I say we give it a try on Mobile and Exxon. EVERYONE has to use gas it’s not an option. So let’s take our swing at the giant and see what happens.

By: John

John — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:53:48 +0000

Scott, good point. We should be rewarding those that don’t purchase from the middle east. However, not purchasing from the middle east does not equate to not supplying fuel produced from middle east oil.

I believe it’s a double standard - I’ll reward you for not purchasing xyz product, but turn an eye to the fact that you still supply xyz product. While a reward would be good, it would do little to affect the supply side of the equation.

A better approach would be to not purchase from the middle east, and not supply from the middle east. However, that appears to be rather tricky. That was my initial point.

At first, I was surprised that there were major companies not purchasing from the middle east, and I made a presumption that non purchase followed through to the pumps. This got me excited, and thinking about where I could purchase my fuels. As noted, my presumption was incorrect, and I since became resigned to the fact that there is little we as consumers can do to affect the middle east supply chain of oil.

By: scott white

scott white — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:29:09 +0000

A quick read through the short document really puts into perspective the purported facts of the email.

I think you’re confused. The original email didn’t suggest that we could reduce global consumption, and therefore middle east profits, by choosing more wisely at the pumps. The guy simply suggested that it would be good to reward companies who don’t purchase from the middle east.