Posted on 03/28/2020 3:44:14 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Exactly!!
So all of you wise guys, why has the price of gasoline around here dropped to 1.67 per gallon from 2.25? I thought it would take a couple of months for that to happen since they have to use what is in inventory already.
No price ever goes down. A few years ago when ranchers were practically giving away their cattle during the drought should have lowered the price of beef. It didn’t. It raised the price to double and triple and more.
John Prine wrote a song just for you...here's the chorus:
Bewildered,bewildered you have no complaint,
You are what you are and you aint what you aint.
So listen up buster and listen up good,
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood.
Signed, Dear Abby.
The barrel of oil used to make gasoline is the same oil used to make automotive oil.
The use of gasoline however, far outpaces the use of automotive oil.
I don't have the technical wherewithal to explain the process, but just imagine (and do not hold me to the specifics) that a barrel of oil just out of the ground contains 33 or 34 gallons, I forget which.
Out of that only six (I think) gallons of gas are produced.
The remaining is refined to automotive oil, diesel, paraffin, asphalt, plastic, etc, etc, etc, some of which, whatever it may be, will not move into the retail section for months after refining, whereas the gasoline will flow within literally minutes of refining and the cost thereof will reflect that immediate period.
That is why the gas prices change so quickly.
Diesel is not that fast, but it still changes pretty quickly after gasoline.
A can/bottle of oil may not even come out of the refinery for weeks and is not bought/sold in the same manner as gasoline futures.
I am not an expert on this, but I've done enough research on my own to satisfy myself as to why the gasoline prices bounce around so much.
Makes sense to me when I look at it that way.
Walmart has a very small profit margin on nationally branded oil, a slightly better margin on their own branded oil.
If you want to see bouncing prices on nationally branded oil, look at your local parts stores.
...they have to use what is in inventory already.
Gasoline moves so quickly.
Many of the Walmart stations move 10,000 gallons in less than three days.
Some national brands, Shell, Citgo, etc can move well over 20,000 gallons a day at some locations.
Have you had to pay more or less than you should have, sometime or other?
Possibly, depending on where you buy your gas and how the resupply truck is scheduled.
Depends on the market fluctuation, also.
Some locations do not get the fastest response, based on how far away from the refinery they are.
And, having a friend in the Quik-shop business, I know from what he has shown me, there is no one in America that is getting rich from selling gasoline, except the refineries.
His profit on a gallon of gas has sometimes been as low as .08 of a cent.
He admits to an occasional profit of nearly 4 cents per gallon.
Then main incentive for these retailers is to sell everything else.
Ever notice how you can't hardly get to the cashier at the Walmart stations for all the quick-grab stuff displayed all over?
Has anyone tried to screw the public by gouging gas prices?
Yep...many times.
But a national retailer such as Walmart would be committing Capitalistic Suicide if they tried to screw over the public by gouging on gas.
They might gouge you on a jar of pickles, after they've wrestled a monopoly within the cucumber industry...which I may not agree with, but realistically is a fact of capitalistic life.
Again, I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I've tried to understand for myself, I hope I've helped you to understand it a little better.
Have a nice day...and go out and fill up with that cheap gas while it's cheap, 'cause if the refineries get shut down, it'll go sky high...again.
Here’s a list of articles made from crude oil. Go run a price check and see if these are being gouged also.
https://whgbetc.com/petro-products.pdf
What is in stock was purchased at a higher price. The newer stock will be discounted.
Maybe so.
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