Saturday, June 14, 2008

As the oil companies continue to make record shattering profits Exxon Mobil sells their gas stations because gas is not profitable oil is!


I haven't heard a thing about this so with so many world altering events happening again today and being confused about what to cover I decided to cover the selling of Exxon/Mobil's 2,200 gas stations because they are making so much money on the oil that it is making gas unaffordable and their gas stations unprofitable. what the hell does that tell you? First we discussed yesterday that because of the price of oil and gas that The cost of living rose in May as consumers were belted by energy costs, the government said Friday. The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation reading, rose 4.2% through the 12 months ended in May, according to the Labor Department.

This compared to an increase of 3.9% during the 12 months ended in April. For the month of May, overall CPI rose 0.6%, compared to an increase of 0.2% in April. That's the biggest increase since last November, when the overall CPI surged 0.9%. A consensus of analysts interviewed by Briefing.com had projected an increase of 0.5% for May. The dramatic increase in energy costs were largely responsible for the overall inflation. Energy costs rose 4.4% in May, and surged 17.4% over the 12 months ending in May, the Labor Department said.
The index for fuel oil rose 10.4% in May and soared 64% over the 12 months. The gasoline index rose 5.7% in May and surged 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. The index for natural gas rose 5.6% in May, and was up 16.5% over the last year. * Electricity costs also increased, but less dramatically, edging up 0.9% in May, and rising 5.8% over the last 12 months. As a result, transportation costs increased 2% in May, and jumped 8.1% over the 12 months ending in May. The index for household energy costs climbed 2.8% in May, its fourth consecutive jump, the Labor Department said. The price of food also pushed up overall costs. Food costs increased 0.3% in May, and jumped 5.1% during the 12 months ending in May. The price of milk was a big influence on the overall price, increasing 10.2% over the 12 months, despite slipping 0.7% in May.The cost of clothing was the one area where consumers got some relief. Apparel costs deflated 0.2% in May, and decreased 0.4% over the 12 months.The core CPI, which excludes the cost of food and energy, rose 0.2% in May, compared to an increase of 0.1% in April. A consensus of analysts interviewed by Briefing.com had projected an increase of 0.2% for May.

We also discussed that Soaring oil and food prices are emerging as serious threats to global economic growth, finance ministers from the world's top industrialized nations said Saturday, while vowing to work together to address the problem. The world economy faces uncertainty and inflationary pressures because of the recent rise in prices, the Group of Eight nations said in a joint statement as they wrapped up two days of talks in western Japan. The finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — were also mapping out an agenda for a summit of their leaders next month in northern Japan. They urged oil-producing nations to increase production to help stabilize the spike in oil prices, and called for aid to address a looming food crisis in developing nations. "Elevated commodity prices, especially of oil and food, pose a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide," the statement said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the spike in oil prices to new heights was a problem of supply and demand, and not caused by speculators. "This is not something that lends itself to short-term solutions," he told reporters after the meeting ended. G8 concerned over rising oil and food prices around the world

To prove there is no concern for a short term or any solution Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall-profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming. GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal and argued that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly. The Democratic energy package would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies, which together made $36 billion during the first three months of the year. It also would have given the government more power to address oil-market speculation, opened the way for antitrust actions against countries belonging to the OPEC oil cartel, and made energy price gouging a federal crime.

"Americans are furious about what's going on," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. He said they want Congress to do something about oil-company profits and the "orgy of speculation" on oil markets. But Republican leaders said the Democrats' plan would do harm rather than good — and they kept the legislation from being brought up for debate and amendments. House Republicans are also pushing two bills that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and two that call for drilling in coastal waters. Supporters are expected to make their case to a House panel Wednesday.The GOP faces an uphill battle because the Senate rejected a measure last month to allow drilling in areas now off-limits to exploration. And Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, opposes drilling in the wildlife refuge. GOP blocks Dems' plan to crack down on oil companies

* We also said nothing we do will lower the price of oil including giving the oil companies more work by letting them destroy ANWR which will not get to market for 10 years and do nothing to lower the price of gas and oil! Meanwhile oil companies are making so much money Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it's getting out of the retail gasoline business, following other major oil companies who've been selling their low-margin stations to gasoline distributors. Motorists, however, will continue to see Exxon's Tiger-themed stations and Mobil outlets in their neighborhoods. Already, about 75 percent of Exxon Mobil's roughly 12,000 stations in the U.S. are owned by branded distributors, who buy Exxon Mobil products and pay to use the name. Irving-based Exxon, the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, said it now plans to sell to distributors its remaining 820 company-owned stations and another 1,400 outlets operated by dealers. Exxon Mobil didn't disclose financial details but said the sales will take place over a "multiyear period."

Exxon Mobil is not alone among Big Oil exiting the retail gas business, a market where profits have gotten tougher as crude oil prices have risen. In fact, industry officials say the major oil companies own fewer than 5 percent of U.S. gas stations. Gas prices reached a new record at the pump Thursday, rising to a national average of $4.06 a gallon. Still, station owners say they're struggling to turn a profit on gas because while wholesale gasoline prices have risen sharply in recent months, they've been unable to raise pump prices fast enough to keep pace. Most gasoline retailers long ago got past any illusion they can make money by selling gas. They rely on gas sales to drive traffic to their shops, where they hope auto repairs or food and drink sales will help them turn a profit. Exxon Dumping Stations, Says No Money in Selling Gas

** We know there is no money selling gas! This way they can focus on making grotesque profits and bring average Americans to their knees! What can we and the world do? watch what happens when Iran is attacked!

James Joiner
Gardner Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com

14 comments:

Mike S said...

I WAS gonna comment on your post, but even thinking about oil interests gets the angry part of the Old Injun's brain wanting to say so much that my one typing finger can't keep up. Suffice it to say that I haven't decided what the larger threat is, oil interests, our government's elected & appointed leaders, Al Quaeda and others of their ilk. Or on a more personal level, the likelihood I'll pop a gasket and croak without seeing changes start. Possibly they're all about an equal danger to me and my family.

jmsjoin said...

Mike
My hat is off to you!You are a lot calmer and understanding than I am! I watched a special today on CNN by the Special Investigation Unit titled "we were warned, out of gas" Very sobering and dire! I already know how bad it is! I know guys like you promote positive thinking and I am positive but this is all coming to a head and there is nothing good here. I reiterate be prepared!Anyway I hope to do something on it tomorrow. Hopefully I can find a video but it focused on being out of oil in many respects and the wars being fought over it. I keep saying this is just beginning! They were highlighting Canada's oil sand and them increasing the massive amount they dig and supply but making a pipeline to the coast to give the oil to China is in the works. By the way Happy Father's Day Injun! I am a bit lackadaisical lately but strangely you cheered me up a bit and maybe I will try to do something. Take care!

Chelsea said...

Lydia Cornell sent me to this pageas she said it was full of good information, and she is right.

Gas is $4.05 where I live and it seems to rise everyday. I must admit after reading some of your articles I am a little frightened for my children and myself.

jmsjoin said...

chelsea
I have to thank Lydia and I want to welcome you. I do not want to frighten anyone I just want people to realize they are living a lie to put it mildly! I won't get to sober on you but some of the comments are better and more sobering than th post.
Quite a bit comes from Larry over at Lydia's He gets it and so do a few others like new mommy weasel dog and brother Tim but I just caught a series on cnn I hope to get more info on tomorrow.
The name of that show is We were warned, out of gas! It is on cnn tonight and tomorrow at 8:pm.
You can look at all my past posts, comments, pamphlets, everything. I have been calling it for years and sadly I am right on. I frequently tell people just relax but be prepared. You have kids. I have men, 4 sons, and grand kids. I am concerned also but I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Look at the whole picture. Don't be fooled. I am just a realist.

Unknown said...

More smoke and mirrors, Jim. Why do we never hear of the thousands, yes thousands, of wells that have been drilled and capped off since the 70s?

Fans and Friends of Lydia Cornell said...

AP - Keep up the good work. so much chaos is going on, we have to keep spiritually centered and somehow not fall apart at every piece of bad news.

the world is changing, and despite appearances we ARE entering a new enlightenment.

(I'm putting your blog on my blogroll)

xoxo
Lyd

jmsjoin said...

Brother
How ya doing Bud! The money is in the research and development as a deduction and an attaboy. They cap them and use everyone else's oil until they use everyone else's.
I just heard this morning that because congress threatened to halt terms shipments to Saudi Arabia and other "fines" they are going to drastically increase production they already said was maxed out! I just can't stand this crap. Anyway you know the chief scum will take the credit and it will do little.
I was going to do something on oil and the future after that show on cnn "we were warned, out of oil! That was dire but I have to look around!

jmsjoin said...

Hi lydia
Nice to see you! thanks for sending Chelsea by! The more we can enlightening that yes you are living a lie every day all day and you will be alright just be prepared. I won't get any deeper than that but what the fall is going to bring!
Thanks for adding me! You have been on mine for quite a while but since you started your new one I have been a bit perplexed as to what the topic was if anything pointed and I have of late had sons around and not spent too much time visiting but I will!

Larry said...

Here is another result of Bush and Exxon Oil Jim:

The Coming Charity Crisis
How the struggling economy is hurting donations.

Daniel Gross

The latest victims of the sagging economy: charities. In May the annual gala of the Robin Hood Foundation, an event at which a few thousand hedge fund magnates and leveraged buyout titans conspicuously display their wealth and commitment to social justice while rocking out to A-list musical guests (Shakira, John Legend, Sheryl Crow), raised $56.5 million, down 21.5 percent from $72 million the year before. (Tom Wolfe profiled the 2006 gala in Portfolio.) No surprise here. Many of the regulars have seen their net worths crushed in the past year.

But it's not just the charities of the swank that are suffering. The Salvation Army caters to a somewhat different crowd—i.e., tens of millions of middle-class Americans. And while it had a good Christmas, "since the first of the year, we've seen some slippage," says Maj. George Hood, a Salvation Army spokesman. Overall donations are down compared with 2007, and donations of used clothing and furniture to thrift shops have fallen by 20 percent. While natural disasters typically inspire a spike in donations, Hood says the earthquakes in China, the cyclones in Burma and the floods in the Midwest have yet to generate such an outpouring.

It would be unfair to say that Americans—whether they are accountants in Kansas City, Mo., or bond traders in Greenwich, Conn.—are becoming stingier. Rather, philanthropy is a pretty large industry. Charitable giving in 2006 was $295.2 billion, according to Giving USA 2006, about 2.2 percent of gross domestic product. For comparison's sake, Wal-Mart has annual sales of about $350 billion. And like every other industry, philanthropy is tethered directly to the health of the overall economy, and in particular to the health of the upper-middle-class consumer. If the past is any guide, it's likely to be a lean year for nonprofits.

A great deal of the public attention about philanthropy is generated by large, dramatic gifts by really rich people—the types who tend to be unaffected by short-term economic fluctuations. But while splashy donations like the $100 million the Blackstone Group's Steven Schwarzman commited to the New York Public Library might garner large headlines, or land a donor on the "Slate 60," such megagifts in 2006 represented just 1.3 percent of overall donations, according to Giving USA. Rather, it's the smaller donations by hundreds of millions of nonbillionaire Americans that fuel most of the nation's nonprofits. (In 2006 individuals accounted for about three-quarters of donations.)

With the economy slowing and likely in recession, charitable giving will probably slump this year and possibly next. After all, charitable donations are a lagging indicator, says Robert Evans, managing director of EHL Consulting Group, a Philadelphia-based firm that advises nonprofits on fund-raising. "It's a lagging indicator for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that in the minds of some, philanthropy is a luxury. You pay your bills first and then start making charitable gifts."

The data seems to bear Evans out. During the last 40 years, according to data provided by Giving USA, charitable giving fell in real terms (i.e., adjusted for inflation) in years in which the economy was in recession, or in years in which there was a significant stock market dislocation. Giving fell in 1980, 1987, and 1990. The last time the economy contracted was in 2001. That year, according to Giving USA, charitable giving fell 2.3 percent in real terms, after having boomed along with the stock markets and the economy at large in the late 1990s. But while the economy resumed its growth in late 2001, charitable giving slumped in real terms in both 2001 (down 1.4 percent) and 2003 (down 0.2 percent). Evans believes giving is less tied to overall economic trends than to traumatic events that might cause donors to seize up for a few months, such as 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, or Watergate. Indeed, 1974, the year the Nixon resignation drama played out, was the worst year for charitable giving in the past 40 years. Donations fell 5.4 percent in real terms that year.

Evans suggests that the best indicators to watch aren't the hauls from splashy public events such as the Robin Hood gala or the results of the Salvation Army, which relies on middle-class donors. The most effective fund-raising efforts aren't parties but efforts in which people appeal to their friends and colleagues face to face. And over the years, he believes, philanthropy, like the U.S. economy itself, has become more top-heavy. In a prior generation, 80 percent of funds were donated by 20 percent of the people. Now he believes the ratio is more like 90 percent donated by 10 percent of donors. "Today we have to be looking at the high end [those with incomes of more than $100,000 a year] more than ever before." If layoffs of white-collar workers at companies such as Ford continue, and if the United Way campaigns that rely so much on upper-level management struggle, 2008 could be a lean year for nonprofits.

jmsjoin said...

Larry
Charities, meals on wheels for the elderly and handicapped, food kitchens, all of them and more are beiong hurt and it will get much worse like everything!
I am preparing to do an update because oil companies have been given permission to annoy the Polar Bears and despite Saudi Arabia saying they were maxed out they just agreed to increase production by 500,000 barrels a day but none of it will make a difference!

D.K. Raed said...

I hadn't thought about it before you pointed it out, but it is certainly not the neighborhood gas stations who are making grotesque profits. Yup, trust exxon et al to know where the money really is!

I don't trust the official inflation rate since it is largely based on the Consumer Price Index which omits too many things. I prefer the other CPI, the Commodity Price Index, to more accurately reflect dollar cost items that have shot up in price. THAT CPI for the annual period ended 5/31/08 is up 21.3% overall, with food alone being up 50%. This seems much more in line with what we are all experiencing.

You are doing a great job keeping us on our toes, Jim. I read, but don't always comment. So much stuff happening. It's good to know you're on top of it.

jmsjoin said...

Red
You are wise! We are living a lie as sadly to many Lying is the new truth. Trust but verify! Hope for the best but prepare for the worst!

Weaseldog said...

I've met a lot of people who were a friend of a friend, of a second cousin who was married to a guy who knew someone who's plumber had a brother that helped capped thousands of oil wells containing enough oil to last the US for thousands of years.

Which would have much more mass than the planet itself.

Tom Brokaw was on the evening news once explaining that Peak Oil is a myth, because ANWR has billions of barrels of oil, enough to last the USA hundreds of years.

We consume what, 23 million barrels a day? I'm guessing that Tom Brokaw wasn't the kind of student that aced his math tests. Most people's eyes glaze over when big numbers are brought up. A billion might as well be infinity. But a USA billion is only 1,000 million.

23 million * 365 days in the year, gives us 8,395 million barrels a year or 8.395 billion a year.

Obviously, a few billion barrels of oil wouldn't even last us a year.

In 2002, US Oil production was down to 5.9 million barrels a day. Even in Brother Tim's assertion that the US could increase production by 50%, that would only be 11.8 million barrels a day. And we've seen in plenty of fields, that over production at those rates, damages the fields so that they decline faster when that short term increase ends.

I do understand that we still have some small fields with very sour crude. The reason no one wants that stuff is the high sulfur content. It corrodes refineries. It takes more energy to refine. Costs are much higher. And finally, there is no use for all the sulfur already produced as waste. It ends up piled into mountains, that slowly burn, producing a cloud of sulphuric acid down wind, damaging ecosystems. We may end up tapping into these fields, but we'll end up killing off another part of food supply and produce poisonous plankton blooms in the Atlantic.

We're just running out of planet to eat. But I have faith that most of it will be gone in my lifetime. I'm only 45.

jmsjoin said...

Wease
You know, it really sucks but you know you are right and we mus hope we are wrong but stay together into the future okay I'll shut up!