Down with the evil Gas lords. (yes, i am brave enough to post another from myspace)

[KrazyHorse]

Kaak, ExxonMobil hasn't been the world's largest petro-extractor for decades.

They have no market clout. They sell oil at the same price everybody else sells oil at. They can't ****ing increase the price of oil by 50% on a whim. Even the Saudis, with 5 times their production would only be able to do that if they turned off the taps completely.

Exxon makes a profit of 9.5% on revenues, which translates into a return on capital of ~15%. Those are both solid, but not ridiculous numbers. This is because the cost to extract or purchase the oil they need (and then refine it) makes up most of the cost that you pay at the pump.

[Kaak]

Did you notice in that slide show the part about their liquification process reducing costs by 30% over the last 5 years for that leg of things???

So basically what you are saying is, that since 81% of Exxon's Oil comes from non-OPEC nations (which i didn't see in the presentation, but since it actually supports my overall point, i'll run with it) and since they control production from the point they pull it out of the ground, until they sell it, and none of this refutes my earlier statement that it costs them 42 cents to do so, they are making a killing and could, in fact, be hurt by a boycott???

Thank you, the defence rests.

edit: I forgot to put in there that market fluctations effect only the price they get for the gasoline, not what it costs to take it out of the ground, produce it or sell it.

[KrazyHorse]

So basically what you are saying is, that since 81% of Exxon's Oil comes from non-OPEC nations

89%

Please learn to read

And look at the ****ing map. It has net production by country. Add up the OPEC countries. Add up everybody else.

[Kaak]

sweet, 89%...So only 11% comes from opec nations. Which still
a) proves you wrong, since 11% is more than none and
b) supports my overall point even more.

[KrazyHorse]

So basically what you are saying is, that since 81% of Exxon's Oil comes from non-OPEC nations (which i didn't see in the presentation, but since it actually supports my overall point, i'll run with it) and since they control production from the point they pull it out of the ground, until they sell it, and none of this refutes my earlier statement that it costs them 42 cents to do so, they are making a killing and could, in fact, be hurt by a boycott???

[Kaak]

I'd laugh too if i were you better to have people laugh with you than at you

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Kaak
sweet, 89%...So only 11% comes from opec nations. Which still
a) proves you wrong

Duh. I already said that. It was based on an article which apparently got its facts wrong. And it's tangential to the point. Which is that ExxonMobil is a relatively minor producer globally. ExxonMobil produces something less than 3% of total world consumption of crude oil (production ~2 MBPD out of total of ~90MBPD). How the **** do you think that ExxonMobil manages to charge a 500% markup at the pump without being eaten alive by the competition?

[KrazyHorse]

Also, I'm interested to know if you understand the difference between the marginal cost of production and the average cost of production.

[Kaak]

lol...Because they will all charge market price. and Please god tell me you already knew this, but $69 a barrel is what gas costs in the US, not necessarily anywhere else. Since ExxonMobil is the largest US gas company (and largest non-state controlled company in the world--from your link--but that is inconsequential), I think the arguement holds.

[KrazyHorse]

lol...Because they will all charge market price.

And how is that market price set?

and Please god tell me you already knew this, but $69 a barrel is what gas costs in the US, not necessarily anywhere else. Since ExxonMobil is the largest US gas company (and largest non-state controlled company in the world--from your link--but that is inconsequential), I think the arguement holds.

Oil is fungible. Which means that if ExxonMobil were somehow artificially inflating spot prices on the NY market, then another company would make a killing by buying oil somewhere else (where prices were lower) and then shipping it to the US. If you're interested, you can find quotes for different spot prices around the world. They're fairly harmonious with each other (the ones which exist in free markets, at least). You should be careful to take into account that different markets' headline price for crude is often quoted for a different grade than that of the US (light, sweet Texas IIRC). In London it's quoted for Brent, I think.

Would you like any further econ 101 lessons?

[Kaak]

*yawn* Yes, i know all of this. So this new company that comes in...Are they going to sell it for less than market? Not if they don't have to. And sure they'll make a killing, JUST LIKE EXXON MOBIL and all the other gas companies.

As for what affects prices, we've already been over that. It has a lot to do with the futures market. You know what affects future prices? Headlines.

btw, you haven't refuted a single one of my points.

[Kaak]

None of that has anything to do with Exxon or any of the other companies watching prices go up and smiling. The higher the prices, the more they make.

[KrazyHorse]

Kaak, your stupidity astounds me.

Goodnight

[Kaak]

Lol at least I can admire the fact that nothing daunts you. even in blatant defeat you will claim victory. You've been taking lessons from Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. The tanks are rolling over your little bagdad, but victory is still yours!!! and I am a moron. err...maroon.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I am pretty confident this wouldn't accomplish anything Especially since Mobil and Exxon don't substantially affect the price of gas directly, it's more affected by the price of oil and the local price factors.

I know... with flowthroughs of less than 3% of the worlds oil supply, Exxon isn't even in the top five of the worlds largest oil concerns.

Why not boycott Aramco, which is 5 times the size of Exxon, or Citgo, the US subsidiary of the national Venezuelan oil company (also bigger than Exxon)?