You're being scammed by oil companies. And nobody is calling them out

Politics
1

The gas prices that just skyrocketed have absolutely nothing to do with the war in Iran or the price of crude. The gas in the ground and at the terminals was refined weeks or months ago and has nothing to do with any current event. Now when then current crude is sold months down the road, I understand why it would cost more. Because it cost more to buy. But there is really not a reason to jack up current gas prices other than greed.

As for oil futures. There is no shortage and there will be no shortage. Panic over nothing. The civilized world does not get oil from Iran.

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2

thats not how this works sir

you sell your product based market price, not what you paid to inventory it

but it is annoying given we didn’t depend on iran for oil. other global market aspects do though

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3

Oil is like gold, would you sell a pound of gold for less than market value?

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Selling current reserves for $2 a gallon now would ensure that they lost the profits needed to buy the more expensive stuff on the next refill.

That’d be a terrible business approach.

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5

Exactly
That is why we should abandon capitalism
oil comanies
drug companies
weapons companies
insurance companies
corporate banks
How much more proof do we need?

Karl Marx was right
Josef Stalin was right
Kamala Harris was right.

We must defeat Donald Trump and the entire GOP
(/sarcasm)

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6

I’m going to protest and drive an EV. :tumbler_glass:

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7

Yeah that’s not how business works. Assuming you bought at a lower price earlier and then suddenly the market has changed to be willing to pay a higher price later on, you sell it for the higher price and pocket the higher profit.

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It works both ways. During the Covid shutdowns the price of oil collapsed. Exxon had two quarters where they were operation at a loss. That was your chance to buy Exxon at $37 per share.

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9

exactly. wholesale gas (Rbob) was 1.70 on 12/19/25, now 2.76 on 3/6/2026

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/rb.1?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqeS3yTCF2s7lUmxdnlWtNNgTkztVCzj04njhkGDNzU7d7W-LWQfRKgJ&gaa_ts=69acbbcf&gaa_sig=wyEaMQ6b-z7l21sw_GgrAeFydqj2gkyvHHCAeYlxYg_F77tJP8xhgM63HYoMe2_tRqX2xgTX4hEEkwA9TtaePw%3D%3D

Allan

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I started buying BP at that time…. About $12ish per share. Just broke $40 a few days ago. Might be a bit higher or lower now.

And BP has a decent dividend.

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The OP said “gas prices” … meaning (I presume) gasoline at the pump. Crude oil prices are based on the global market primarily reflecting supply, but gasoline prices are based on what the local market will bear. Fuel companies know that their competitors are going to raise prices based on what it may cost to refill their storage tanks and if the price increase doesn’t cause demand to fall off, they can keep nudging up the price. It’s soft-collusion … they all keep an eye on what each other in their market is charging so when one raises prices, they all do accordingly until the consumers begin to rebel and competition is restored to the system.

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12

Imagine you’re shopping for a new car. You find one you like. You come back the next day and the sticker price is 1000 dollars more. You ask the salesman what happened? And he says: “The price of steel just went up.”

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13

should have bought it yesterday

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14

As annoying as that is and seemingly unfair, that is what happens.

What something is worth does not depend on the cost to put it in inventory

Now the seller can choose to do that (say, to move inventory or get some publicity) but they can charge what it’s worth. And some industries may not react so quickly as gas does. This is because of the speed at which they move the product

Now consider, you are a gas station owner. You just replenished your tanks. Now gas goes up 20%. If you don’t increase your price to match, you will take a huge hit next time you replenish.

Do you keep the price the same, or do you have a heavy loss. And if you do hold the price, for how long?

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If you buy and sell gold, do you do so at the market price or based on what you paid to acquire it?

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This is an unintended consequence of limited refining capabilities in America. And here we are.

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17

Gas is priced on replacement cost.

18

Sure, you could do business that way, but on a commodity like gas with super thin margins, it leads to a cash crunch.

You pay $1 for 1000 gallons and sell it for $1.10 at the pump.

You just filled the tank when gas goes to $1.50.

You sell it all for 1.10 and have 1,100 in the till.

To fill the tank again you need 1,500 now….So you have to go into debt to stay in business.

No way to do business.

(I worked in a retail commodities industry for about 15 years.)

Not to say the gas companies are scamming us, they just aren’t scamming us like this.

19

Lol. No it’s not.

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20

simply not true

price of gas is

wholesale cost plus transportation plus taxes plus profit equals price.

any other equation is erroneous.

Allan