Good news for boaters? Oil prices headed down?
 

On May 18, 1:09 am, "D.Duck" wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message

ups.com...





On May 17, 9:56 am, "NOYB" wrote:
I have put 200 hours on my 30' boat since last June...but very few of
those
were in the past couple of months. I budget about $500/month on fuel.
The
monthly fuel bill is often higher, but some of the expense is shared by
friends or family.

I've been planning a trip to the Keys at the end of the month, which
will
be a budget buster...so I've been using the 17' boat more often to save
fuel.

I forgot how much I like the simplicity of a smaller boat. It's easier
to
fish nearshore with, and when the kids get hot and tired, it's easier to
pull up to a marina for lunch, or on to a beach for a swim.

The 30-footer is becoming a "specialty trip" boat...for occasional long
runs
offshore, or to a long-range destination for an overnight trip. I will
use
it more often than the little boat in the winter too, since things can
get
downright cold fishing from an open boat in January and february (even in
Florida).

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message

groups.com...

On May 16, 8:53 am, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 16 May 2007 07:28:39 -0700, Chuck Gould

wrote:
You're rooting and hoping for a collapse of the powerboat industry?
Especially large powerboats?

I don't know about large powerboats, but I stopped to visit a friend
of mine at the old Lake Webster Marina this morning and he was just
flat out depressed. Hasn't sold a new boat in 8 months and he's more
more used boats on consignment than I've ever seen there - easily 60
boats - all mid-range from 25K to 60k.

Gotta wonder about that.

It's not fair, (and life is seldom fair), but the guys shopping boats
in the 25-60K range will often be far more affected by high fuel
prices than people spending ten times as much.

I was aboard a very nice new boat on Monday that runs well, but burns
51 gph to make 31 knots. At fuel dock prices, that's in the vicinity
of $500 for a two-hour run at 31 knots. (ouch)
The buyer who can spend $300k to buy that boat will *still* feel the
pain at the pump, but fuel will be somewhat insignificant compared to
other expenses.

A boater who is maybe even making monthly payments on a $25,000 marine
mortgage
just to get out on the water is far more likely to be driven out of
the pastime entirely if his fuel bill for a day even begins to
approach $500. When boating 2-3 days per month starts to cost people
$1000 or more in fuel costs, the middle income earners and below will
begin fleeing the scene. That seems to be reflected in your friend's
experience at his marina.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well, if the AAA chart is accurate we have to be in for some relief
eventually.

http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/index.asp

If one looks at the "gap" between the price of crude and the wholesale
price from September 2006 until about Feb of 2007, and then compares
that to the same gap today, the difference is astonishing.

Rather obviously the oil companies can afford to take their foot off
our necks almost any time they want to. Question is, how soon will
they want to?

If there were any real competition, somebody would start up a new oil
company to take advantage of that gap. Whenever profits get to that
sort of level, that's when the free market economy is supposed to
spawn additional competition and bring the prices/profits down a bit.
I guess we don't have a perfect system- but then again I don't think a
perfect system exists anywhere and the one we do have is pretty good
most of the time.

Oh well.....

What about the government mandated summer formulations? Might they be more
costly to produce?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It may be slightly more costly to produce the summer formulation.

However, the gap on the chart between the price of crude oil and the
wholesale price f refined products is now the largest it has been in a
year. Assuming that the cost of
brewing the summer potion isn't up significantly last from 2006,
profits will be as high or higher than they were last year. Exxon made
just under $40-billion net for the year in 2006 (almost $75,000 per
minute, 24/7), with all costs of summer production considered.

Profit is a a fine thing. But true profits are earned, not merely
extorted from a captive market. We could use this opportunity to ask,
"Is there anything that could not or should not be done in pursuit of
profit; or is profit such a holy grail that the end will always
justify or excuse the means?" I am certain that there would be at
least two very different points of view on that issue.

Meanwhile, we are in danger of losing so much critical mass and
supporting infrastructure in the boating pastime that even the
smallest and most fuel efficient boats will have a tough time finding
parts, service, facilities, etc.

Good news for boaters? Oil prices headed down?
 

Self service regular just went up to $1.22 per liter this morning.

Multiply that by 3.78 and we get $ 4.61 CDN
Now since the Canadian dollar is at a 30 year high of .92 compared to the US
dollar...

A gallon of gas here costs about $4.24 US
Sure glad I'm a sailor and live in the center of the city. (My leased
Ranger pickup accumilated 7700 kms over 13.5 months of use)

Good news for boaters? Oil prices headed down?
 

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...
On May 17, 11:00 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:


Where is the new company going to get their crude?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's *why* there's no competition. :-)

A handful of companies control most of the world's crude oil. Even
where wells have been nationalized (like the mideast) BIGOIL still
owns 49% in many cases. Since everybody is able to sell as much as
they want at whatever price they care to charge, (as long as there is
no consideration for the human misery that results), the incentive is
to help your competitors push prices higher rather than take advantage
of a competitor's high pricing to increase your own market share.



Big oil put really big bucks into developing the fields. The price started
escalating in the early 1970's. Remember that time? The good old boys oil
companies were ignoring the fact that the "Rag Heads" were sending their
best and brightest to Wharton and Stanford business schools. Those Arabs
decided they wanted more than the $0.25 a barrel they were receiving. Since
the Saudi and Kuwaiti oil is the cheapest to produce, they could make lots
of money. Their oil is the cheapest as there is huge amounts of gas
pressure on top of the oil pool, and they can drill a hole with a 12" line
and no pumps are required to get it out of the ground. Just a pump or two
to send it on it's way to the ship terminal. Both OPEC and the oil
companies are trying to maximize profit, but keep it low enough that it
does not trip the world into a depression. Which came close in 1975 era.
The non Wharton Arabs saw how much more money they could get and got greedy.

Good news for boaters? Oil prices headed down?
 

On 17 May 2007 20:18:08 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

If there were any real competition, somebody would start up a new oil
company to take advantage of that gap. Whenever profits get to that
sort of level, that's when the free market economy is supposed to
spawn additional competition and bring the prices/profits down a bit.

You can buy imported gasoline by the tanker load and set up your own
distribution network, no refinery required. The Wall Street Journal
quotes prices every day. You could lease storage from a tank farm and
set up a co-op sales organization.