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No, our local news gives the average gas prices for each New England state, twice a week. They are all high. (And many other states remain high, too. It's easy to find average prices for each state).
The fact that prices have dropped more in some states than others doesn't change the overall dynamic: prices for consumers are raised instantly when crude prices go up (even a little), but almost always drop much slower.....even when crude prices plummet.
Gas prices in your own state are right at the national average with many stations well below the average, so no, they are NOT "all high" in New England.
Seeing as you're completely impervious to facts other than those you cherry-pick or just plain manufacture to bolster your irrational hatred, it's time I bowed out of this conversation. Have a nice life being bitter at people who never did anything to you, it must be a very pleasant one.
You are 100% correct: this is from a pure consumers point of view. The industry (from exploration all the way to retail) is under no obligation to "feel" anything for the consumer. In fact, the industry, at all levels, hopes for huge profits at every stop along the "oil way". This money, of course, comes from the consumer. And the industry has certainly been "winning"............crude oil prices are near $50 (fairly low), but in many places the price to consumers hasn't dropped much at all. So SOMEBODY is making a good deal of money when crude prices (the price to get the actual product out of the ground and into a barrel) are near $50, and prices to consumers are still $2.50-3.00 per gallon. (I know all about state taxes..........that's a given).
There are a dozen layers to the oil business, from exploration to extraction to futures to shipping to refining to transportation to storage to wholesale to retail--and so on. And quite a few people are making very good salaries at all of these layers. Stockholders are also doing very well, when prices are the way they are. There is no "kindness" involved in the industry.......nobody is volunteering to take a smaller piece of the pie so that old people or poor people can keep an extra $10 a week. Nor should they. Dog eat dog. Got it.
I simply want the consumers to win for a change. I want every single person at any level of the industry who is earning a decent salary to have their salary halved (by market forces).
So if you earn 100k now, I hope you will earn 50k next year. (The only exception I can make is the grunt at the gas station or in the oil truck making deliveries. Let them keep their $10 or $15 an hour.)
You may call this harsh, but I just want the shoe to be on the other foot for a while. And if somebody doesn't like earning half of what they currently earn, then they can get the hell out of the industry and let somebody else earn their (still-decent) salary.
(Of course, this is all just fantasy; we rarely get what we want. But still........it's what I want).
You know...it's refreshing to see someone admit that they are petty, small and envious in the manner that you have. When someone says, as you have above, that he is a shallow, mean, vindictive individual of questionable emotional stability, well, I gotta respect that.
But, in the interest of keeping the whole discussion on a broad-minded keel, I would submit the following for your consideration:
1) Employees and contractors in the oil business lose their jobs all the time. When commodity prices crater, you usually don't get the option of taking a cut in pay, allowing for only a few rare exceptions. Rather, you gets a pink slip...and it happens far more often than you are apparently aware. I myself have been in the upstream sector since 1980, and I've seen it happen in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2008 and 2015. A lot of talent exits the business during these periods, as you can probably guess. The oil and gas industry was delivering occupational/professional pain to the people who work therein long before you started asking for it.
2) I checked the tax load on a gallon of gas for the State of Maine, which is currently 30.01 cents per gallon...higher than average, but not nearly the highest tax rate in the country. Add to that the federal excise tax of 18.40 cents per gallon on gasoline, which you also pay, and you're looking at a total tax bite of 48.41 cents per gallon in Maine. If you're paying $2.75/gallon for gas today, then 17.6% of what you're paying is tax. Funny thing, though...neither the feds nor the state boys in Maine seem to show any measurable sympathy toward consumers in your state, either. Now, I don't know if this trinket of information makes you want to head down to your state capital and start lopping heads off legislators, but, just for perspective, your neighbors down in Massachusetts started chunking King George's tea into the harbor over a 1.5-cent levy way back when. (Kinda makes the rest of us wonder what happened to you guys in the interim.)
3) Even if we skip past #1 and #2 above, you're still going to have the transportation cost issue. Best as I can tell, the nearest refining capacity of any measurable size to you in Caribou, ME, is going to be in northern New Jersey, five states away. And you are about as far away from that refining capacity as you possibly can be and still be in the U.S. Just the transportation cost alone to Caribou, ME, from northern New Jersey probably adds 15 cents in cost to each gallon, maybe more. So taxes and transportation would account for about 23% of the cost of your $2.75 gallon of gas, which serves to explain why you're still paying $2.75 per gallon, while down here in sunny Texas you can get gas today for $1.97 per gallon at some retailers. Another way to look at it: if it were not for taxes and transportation costs, you'd be paying about $2.10 per gallon there in Caribou, ME.
4) Alas...we do not live in a world where there are no motor fuels taxes and no transportation costs for gasoline. But, as a general rule, when you pull up to the pump, there are no lines and the product is readily available, when and where you want it. You can buy as much as you want, or as little as you want. When was the last time you pulled into your local gas retailer only to find a hand-painted sandwich-board sign reading "No Gas Today?" It's probably been quite a while. The retail gasoline market is well supplied, with ne'er the shortage to be seen. That's because the American petroleum industry is operating 24/7/365 in order to deliver those goods to you in a convenient and economical manner. And I know how we'll agree that it all works very well, with little, if any, effort required on the part of the end consumer.
5) If the cost of gasoline really bothers you as much as you say, to the point where you would wish economic or other harm to those who find, produce, refine, and transport this commodity to you, then perhaps you might consider switching to hybrid or electric vehicles. You could probably cut your gasoline bill in half with a hybrid. And it would no doubt help to improve your outlook on life, which appears to be largely soured by the price of gas.
You know...it's refreshing to see someone admit that they are petty, small and envious in the manner that you have. When someone says, as you have above, that he is a shallow, mean, vindictive individual of questionable emotional stability, well, I gotta respect that.
But, in the interest of keeping the whole discussion on a broad-minded keel, I would submit the following for your consideration:
1) Employees and contractors in the oil business lose their jobs all the time. When commodity prices crater, you usually don't get the option of taking a cut in pay, allowing for only a few rare exceptions. Rather, you gets a pink slip...and it happens far more often than you are apparently aware. I myself have been in the upstream sector since 1980, and I've seen it happen in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2008 and 2015. A lot of talent exits the business during these periods, as you can probably guess. The oil and gas industry was delivering occupational/professional pain to the people who work therein long before you started asking for it.
2) I checked the tax load on a gallon of gas for the State of Maine, which is currently 30.01 cents per gallon...higher than average, but not nearly the highest tax rate in the country. Add to that the federal excise tax of 18.40 cents per gallon on gasoline, which you also pay, and you're looking at a total tax bite of 48.41 cents per gallon in Maine. If you're paying $2.75/gallon for gas today, then 17.6% of what you're paying is tax. Funny thing, though...neither the feds nor the state boys in Maine seem to show any measurable sympathy toward consumers in your state, either. Now, I don't know if this trinket of information makes you want to head down to your state capital and start lopping heads off legislators, but, just for perspective, your neighbors down in Massachusetts started chunking King George's tea into the harbor over a 1.5-cent levy way back when. (Kinda makes the rest of us wonder what happened to you guys in the interim.)
3) Even if we skip past #1 and #2 above, you're still going to have the transportation cost issue. Best as I can tell, the nearest refining capacity of any measurable size to you in Caribou, ME, is going to be in northern New Jersey, five states away. And you are about as far away from that refining capacity as you possibly can be and still be in the U.S. Just the transportation cost alone to Caribou, ME, from northern New Jersey probably adds 15 cents in cost to each gallon, maybe more. So taxes and transportation would account for about 23% of the cost of your $2.75 gallon of gas, which serves to explain why you're still paying $2.75 per gallon, while down here in sunny Texas you can get gas today for $1.97 per gallon at some retailers. Another way to look at it: if it were not for taxes and transportation costs, you'd be paying about $2.10 per gallon there in Caribou, ME.
4) Alas...we do not live in a world where there are no motor fuels taxes and no transportation costs for gasoline. But, as a general rule, when you pull up to the pump, there are no lines and the product is readily available, when and where you want it. You can buy as much as you want, or as little as you want. When was the last time you pulled into your local gas retailer only to find a hand-painted sandwich-board sign reading "No Gas Today?" It's probably been quite a while. The retail gasoline market is well supplied, with ne'er the shortage to be seen. That's because the American petroleum industry is operating 24/7/365 in order to deliver those goods to you in a convenient and economical manner. And I know how we'll agree that it all works very well, with little, if any, effort required on the part of the end consumer.
5) If the cost of gasoline really bothers you as much as you say, to the point where you would wish economic or other harm to those who find, produce, refine, and transport this commodity to you, then perhaps you might consider switching to hybrid or electric vehicles. You could probably cut your gasoline bill in half with a hybrid. And it would no doubt help to improve your outlook on life, which appears to be largely soured by the price of gas.
Why all the moral preening (in this and other responses)?? I am under no obligation to "FEEL" anything for people working in oil and gas...........just as THEY under no obligation to "take it easy" on the poor, elderly or infirm by lowering prices.
As for the sob stories about those working in the industry, just save them. If you earned 50k last year in the industry, that's not bad. If you earned 100k, that's excellent. If you earned 200k, you are rich. Maybe should have saved more money. You've earned plenty.
A 30 cent gas tax is one-tenth of what gas was costing here just a few weeks ago. Not that much. And it helps pay for roads. So I certainly would focus my ire on gas taxes........after people in the industry take their "hit".
As for "transportation costs".......funny that. As crude prices drop, guess what else drops?? Gee..........transportation costs. A big tanker truck full of petrol, and one driver........driving 300 miles from Portland, Maine. "Gee, oil prices dropped".........guess the companies' transport costs just dropped, too.............So there should be a real "snowball effect" with prices dropping, n'est ce pas?? Never happens.
Major refineries.......hmmm. Not so smart. Saint John NB is 230 miles from Portland, Maine. (Irving Oil is the biggest player in Maine and NB). 250,000 barrels per day capacity.
many hope the same in what you do for a living as many likely feel who you work for should be punished too
I would agree. My industry needs to "take a whack".
But it's nowhere near as bad the the oil and gas industry.
(By the way, I mistakenly focused on just the big tankers delivering gas and heating oil..........when the price of crude goes down as much as it has recently, this affects ALL transportation of the products. From tankers to home delivery trucks, it becomes cheaper to deliver the products. Should be a "snowball effect" down to consumer prices.)
Why all the moral preening (in this and other responses)?? I am under no obligation to "FEEL" anything for people working in oil and gas...........just as THEY under no obligation to "take it easy" on the poor, elderly or infirm by lowering prices.
As for the sob stories about those working in the industry, just save them. If you earned 50k last year in the industry, that's not bad. If you earned 100k, that's excellent. If you earned 200k, you are rich. Maybe should have saved more money. You've earned plenty.
A 30 cent gas tax is one-tenth of what gas was costing here just a few weeks ago. Not that much. And it helps pay for roads. So I certainly would focus my ire on gas taxes........after people in the industry take their "hit".
As for "transportation costs".......funny that. As crude prices drop, guess what else drops?? Gee..........transportation costs. A big tanker truck full of petrol, and one driver........driving 300 miles from Portland, Maine. "Gee, oil prices dropped".........guess the companies' transport costs just dropped, too.............So there should be a real "snowball effect" with prices dropping, n'est ce pas?? Never happens.
Major refineries.......hmmm. Not so smart. Saint John NB is 230 miles from Portland, Maine. (Irving Oil is the biggest player in Maine and NB). 250,000 barrels per day capacity.
... Poor, elderly, infirm .... You forgot the everlasting "fixed income".
i love that term "fixed income "" workers are on fixed income , seniors get ss which is at least cola adjusted . it is anything but "fixed "
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