If you think domestic oil companies manipulate price, consider the fact that Exxon Mobil, the largest domestic by far, isn't 5% of the size of Saudi Aramco or about 3 other state owned oil companies which are members of OPEC. The domestics are making money, but they're just along for the ride as the elephants of the industry drag their fleas along with them.
Squealers wrote: I predict a congressional investigation into the domestic oil companies. It will be bloody and there will be many casualties.
Now, I am a free market economist. However I feel that if companies manipulate scenarios to artificially advance profits then "Houston we have a problem"
Profits from smart buying and selling = Free Market Economics
Profits from manipulation and fraud = Jail Time
Price is driven by supply. Maybe the government should investigate themselves. They control access to the supply and have recently made decisions to dramatically limit it even more.
Agreed, however if oil companies manipulate the supply side costing, then it creates higher prices. Bottom line is our government must work to avoid the economic crisis we saw in the 70's and 80's that were fuel driven.
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Maybe, its because my back is killing me this morning or maybe its because I just got bored reading all this whining and felt compelled to write a response.
First off as to RV manufacturers being "in the toilet." I say so what!
Seems we all have a very short memory. The oil embargos of the early 1970's nearly collapsed the RV industry. This watershed downturn will only serve to clear out the marginal quality producers anyway. Those who think the number of RV manufacturers will shrink to a handful of producers are correct, but this is only a short term change (8 to 10 years) Innovators will come back into the market as the the economy swings around yet again and force the mega producers into changes which will make their products more durable, less expensive, and higher quality. One has only to look at the influences of Toyota, Kia, and Honda on the auto industry.
As for high fuel prices we have no one to blame but ourselves. No oil refineries have been built in the U.S. in 30 years. Not one. Why?
Because in our zeal to clean up the environment and "not in my backyard," policies, we have created a nearly unscalable mountain of laws and procedures for corporate lawyers developers, and builders to overcome just to get a set of blue prints approved.
Don't get me wrong clean air, water, and earth are important and I don't want to return to the pre 1970 earth day environmental mess we lived in. We just need to figure out a means of balancing needs and wants.
"The Inconvenient Truth" is that we need oil, nuclear, coal, water, wind and solar resources to continue to grow as a healthy planet and your only tool to participate in this process is your checkbook and your vote.
I wish I could say that I think alternative fuels efforts are the right answer to all our fuel cost problems. Unfortunately its turning into the same "greed fest" as any other modern technological shifts of recent memory. For example, does anyone remember the IBM PS1 computer?
Do you remember what you paid for it new?
Where is yours today?
Just like personal computing innovation, this fuel price "situation" will sort itself out in the short run (3 to 5 years) So in the mean time travel a little less, spend more time thinking about, caring for, and phoning friends and love ones. The more energy we spend b$$$hing about the problem is less energy we have to care for others, IMO.
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Good points. I was reading in the Lane Report a couple days ago about the decline of the US dollar. While it has helped KY companies sell more products over seas it does explain much of the rise in fuel prices. This means other parts of the world have not seen the same jump in prices.
I agree it will sort itself out. In the mean time MH's will age and a pent up demand will be in place down the road and a new gut of companies getting into the MH building business. If things change a lot as in the type of MH that sells well these new companies may have an edge over the old line companies if they do NOT retool for the new mind set.
By the way it is shoulder spasms after surgery here.
I've got to agree, we have brought this on ourselves. Americans still think the world revolves around them and that we can continue to monopolize the worlds resources. Bigger is better, right? Companies come and go as with any business cycle, and the weak ones are forced out while the inovators and the carefuil ones that didn't over expand when times were good will live to fight another day. I drive a Dp , but it is one of the smaller ones and drive conservatively. I'm looking into the future and thinking of what form my next RV will take, at this point I don't know. 8 MPG is gonna get real old and expensive, but I still want the room. Any innovators out there?The times they are a changing. The europeans are even offering americans deals because the dollar is so weak. This country always got things done when it had to, I think this could be an opportunity to prove we still have it.
All this "refinery shortage" !! Isn't that the same thing we heard a few years back with the California electricity crisis??? Turns out old fashioned greed was at hand the whole time, and the greedies were using "Power Plants not being built" as a "believeablle" excuse to the public. Some of the public believed it, some didn't. Those that didn't turned out to have the bragging rights.
California remains on the ragged edge of brownouts due to lack of either power plants in the proper area of the state or more transmission capacity to bring power in from other areas. We recalled and threw out the governor that was a good part of the problem (lack of mangagement) the last go round.
The current situation is a whole different story. We do have a lack of refining capacity, but the bigger problem is the weak dollar combined with increased global demand. Hang on because there are going to be many significant changes as the USA economy readjusts it's structure to the new realities of what energy costs. This has been building for about 5-7 years and just recently reached the tipping point. The RV sector will just be a small blip overall.
And yes, I am an economist. And yes, I also get 7.5 miles to the gal.!
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I don't understand why people keep saying that there hasn't been a new refinery built in the US in thirty years when in fact thats not true. Right now, in Port Arthur Texas is an expansion to a plant that will make it one of the worlds largetst and in my area, Houston, several along the Houston Ship Channel, aka Chemical Row, there have been several expansions to existing refineries to boost prodution. Just because there hasn't been a brand new shiny refinery built on virgin land in the US in over thirty years doesn't mean that refining capacity hasn't increased here in the states when in fact it has. With modern technology, its usually far cheaper and wiser to expand an existing facility rather than keep an energy inefficient plant running then build a brand new one right beside it. I work in a petrochemical plant and while we don't make gas and diesel, we are one of the largest plants that produce, well chemicals. While we've had several new units builts since I"ve been there, we've had more projects to "debottleneck" a unit, giving it a higher yeild which is usually a better return on an investment, saving the company money while producing more product. Refining capacity in the US has grown, do some research.
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