If You Are PLanning To Fill The Gas Tank....

[tRidiot]

nobody said your rejoicing that people are out of work in the oilfield.

We are trying to say that even though its a personal bonus for you, its a bust for folks in another line of work. Nobody that I know of wants to see another suffer in life.

I understand that energy prices affect everything... but that sword cuts both ways, too. But it's a bonus for most everyone who uses gasoline... not just for me. This equates to billions of dollars working families get to spend on other areas in the economy, not going to oil companies, but to other industries and products.

 

[WhiteyMacD]

This is no fun when you're blocked.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Good point. A lot of 401k's have invested heavily in oil and gas production. Americans not working in the oil patch have suffered as well.

^^^This right here is hurting, but...Take some of that money you're saving on gas and buy cheap oil stock or ETFs. That is, unless you think prices are going to stay this low forever. I don't.

 

[WhiteyMacD]

^^^This right here is hurting, but...Take some of that money you're saving on gas and buy cheap oil stock or ETFs. That is, unless you think prices are going to stay this low forever. I don't.

^^^

 

[doctorjj]

No just be aware that the price of energy affects EVERYTHING you touch during any given day. If the price is this low, you know the economy isn't doing well at all, I don't care what they tell you on CNBC. It could be argued that its a better indicator of the world's economy than the stock indices.

Be aware that price is a reflection of both supply and demand.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Ok... so no one is answering the question...

And they won't. It directly contradicts a core principle of most OSAers.

 

[nofearfactor]

So again... SHOULD we voluntarily pay more for a product so that we can employ people in high-paying jobs to produce that product?

I love this place. I came here from the XD forum a long time ago to get educated as well as entertained- and this place never fails on either of those areas.

Hmmm. Ok. So no one has answered your question. I am severly under qualified technically to do that by the way. Im just a regular fella with a bit of extra money trying to make more money to help take care of myself and my family, a small oil/stock investor and mineral rights owner/recipient with limited technical knowledge of the oil business other than being around it my entire life and working in a few jobs in it many years ago for my family who has been in the oil business in OK in many different areas, since the early 1900s.

Im a bum musician and artist with a technical school education so Im admittedly not as smart as the rest of you highly trained college educated peeps with the expensive degrees, so bare with me. Just curious about something now. I am about to attempt an analogy.

This statement above reminds me of the medical field, which I am aware that you are employed in. Also of which I know absolutely nothing about either by the way. But isnt this statement you made here also kind of in a way close to what goes on in the medical fields business end?

Me and my wife can afford to pay our medical bills unlike alot of other less fortunate people who need health care but cant afford it so they either dont pay their bills or they get a go-fund-me going or whatever they do, but I would imagine that alot of those bills just go unpaid. Collection agencies just dont give up trying to collect on the debt that was sold to them, it gets resold and then someone is absorbing that debt. Who pays those bills? Hospitals and Drs and technicians and all of the other highly trained medical field workers dont work for free I imagine with all of the equipment to replace and training they had to pay for and the lifestyle they have keep up when they get some rare time off to enjoy it. Am I wrong in assuming that possibly those of us in a higher tax bracket who can afford to pay more might actually be paying more than we actually should just to help the hospitals and other related technicians and Drs, etc out by absorbing their losses and offsets thru inflated prices? If someone wasnt paying the bills then I just assume that hospitals would just close and or lay off a bunch those highly trained professionals, who would then be looking for work. Hmmm.

Whats the difference then may I ask in paying a few cents more at the pump to assure that we have someone doing the dirty azz job it takes in getting that product to the pump for you when you need to go somewhere. You pull up to the pump expecting it to be there and also to be half as expensive as it is in other parts of the world. Yes, we have always had the cheapest gas on the planet. What if you got there to fill up and the stations had no gas at all, they said sorry man we have no gas because oil went to $5 a barrel last night and nobody can afford to get it to you. Wont anybody be driving anywhere but electrics at that poiint.

I can only imagine that hospitals would be closing left and right because they cant pay their bills when people couldnt pay them, but they dont, havent seen one around where I live close yet, they close other places that I am not aware of tho. So how do they stay in business and keep constantly updating equipment, training, keep good help, etc, if a good sized portion of their business is charity? They dont. Its a business. (And a filthy dirty business too, kind of like the oilfield. Hmmm). Some how I just have to assume that that debt gets absorbed by someone else who can afford it or medical professionals would be joining petro related field professionals in the unemployment line.

My wife has had a few serious medical issues the last few years besides regular maintenance work on worn out shoulders and stuff plus the regular battery of tests and crap a 50 yr old has to go thru. Gladly Ive always been healthy and besides my 2 regular checkups a year with my Doc we spend virtually no money on me for health care. We have spent much money tho for excellant care for my wife, no gripes there at all, they have been fantastic and she is alive today because of them. To us life is precious and we have the money to spend so it was money well spent. We just send in the payments on time, even though my wife does have to haggle with the insurance companies sometimes to get them to do their part better but that isnt the hospital or Drs problem. Still, we have to assume tho that we are paying a bit more sometimes to help the medical field cover the costs for those less fortunate and to also stay ultra high tech, well equipped and well trained in case her or me ever need any more medical procedures. My wife being a Christian to her she doesnt mind at all to pay a bit more because she can afford to do it and she believes in helping people and helping businesses stay alive.

I have to say tho vs what my wife thinks about it, and no offense to your field, but, I feel less shafted by big oil when I buy their inflated priced products than I do the crazy prices we have paid some of the hospital and medical services that my wife has under gone. Im very glad she got excellant care, but it comes at a price. Ive seen the itemized lists and its more than hilarious to me to see the prices of some the stuff in hospitals, but then Im no expert at any or it, just an observer. I understand also that we are paying for high technology. The health field just seems to be a little overpriced some times, but what can you do, you need the services so if youre like us and you can afford it you just whip it out and pay the bill even tho you know you kind of got F'd on some of that stuff. Especially the big pharma companies and that racket, surely the Mafia is in on pharmacueticals, wowow, the prices my wife pays for her meds is unF'nreal.

Anyways, be it the medical field or gas/oil related products, we're all kidnapped by their high prices because they are products we can not live without. Period. Same as food. When the farmers get sick of operating in the red and selling their high quality products at a loss, look the F out, then you will really be yelling about high prices for a product you have to have. Or you can just go grown your own food. Ride a mule to work. And read medical books to learn to take care of yourself's. Good luck with any of that. Im not capable of any of that so I think I will just continue on paying their stoopid high prices and just try not to get too squeezed by all of them because its now a part of our regular out of control expensive lives. I know now why old people are smiling when they die. They know its finally over and theyre happy to be getting away from it all...

 

[tRidiot]

ZOMG... I had a long response typed up and hit a wrong key and lost it all. UGH.

Different situations, obviously, but I take your point. Collective exchanges to support an aging population through insurance and government payments is the answer in healthcare... doesn't work with a daily-use commodity like gasoline.

The question isn't about a single industry... asking 300 million Americans to artificially pay extra to support an industry that can't support itself based on the wages it has set itself up to pay for help (and let's not forget the regulatory compliance costs, either). This is the crux of my question. I agree that healthcare is overbloated and in a lot of ways needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. But it won't happen short of a complete collapse, sadly. No way in hell.

Maybe I'll get a chance to type some more in a bit... got some work to do at the moment.

 

[nofearfactor]

ZOMG... I had a long response typed up and hit a wrong key and lost it all. UGH.

Different situations, obviously, but I take your point. Collective exchanges to support an aging population through insurance and government payments is the answer in healthcare... doesn't work with a daily-use commodity like gasoline.

The question isn't about a single industry... asking 300 million Americans to artificially pay extra to support an industry that can't support itself based on the wages it has set itself up to pay for help (and let's not forget the regulatory compliance costs, either). This is the crux of my question. I agree that healthcare is overbloated and in a lot of ways needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. But it won't happen short of a complete collapse, sadly. No way in hell.

Maybe I'll get a chance to type some more in a bit... got some work to do at the moment.

Hahaa, I hate that. My laptop seems to know just when to say F you and me lose another epic piece my long winded BS.

I get ya man, really I do. And I get the other side.

 

[Hobbes]

Ok... so no one is answering the question. The complaint is - "low oil prices have put people out of work in high-paying jobs in the oilfield."


So again... SHOULD we voluntarily pay more for a product so that we can employ people in high-paying jobs to produce that product?


People are acting like I'm rejoicing that people in the oilfield are out of work. Gimme a break. I'm happy less of my paycheck is going to the gas pump, so I can spend it on other things I find useful, necessary or enjoyable. THE MONEY IS STILL GETTING SPENT.... it is going into the economy. But not as much is going to oilfield workers, more is going to gun and ammo producers, lately. More is going to pay off debt. More is going into my retirement... into lots of things. I'm paying a couple of local craftsmen tomorrow to put in some new granite and a plumber to change the fixtures. Wouldn't have been able to do that if I were paying 3x as much for gasoline the last 2 months.

So... should I skip out on improving the value of my home (for when I sell it) and supporting my local craftsmen and just take that money and send it to an oil company so they can support one of their rig guys for another week?

I will answer your question.
We need the .gov to get involved and set a FAIR price so the oil companies can make a profit so they can pay back the loans they took out to expand production because the fed was keeping interest rates low and capital was cheap to borrow.

Beyond price controls, maybe the .gov can step in and set production quotas so there isn't a glut of oil.
Maybe some carbon tax credits as well.

Capitalism is broken now, but the .gov can help.
Drill Baby Drill