Corpusfishing.com

[landlocked beachbum]

Most things in life never get cheaper. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. Speaking of California, they are the reason that so many things in this country ARE so screwed up. They want cheap gas but won't allow any offshore rigs and have such ridiculous environmental standards that they are running businesses out of the state, they want cheap wood so that they can build [rebuild] their $$$$$$ houses after they slide down a hill, burn or are destroyed in an earthquake but they don't want any timber cutting in their state and on and on. Liberal La La Land gone wild and we all pay the price for their excesses and lifestyle.
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Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[Bayslammer]

It is tough for me to imagine what life would be like without V8 Engines and big outboards going forward. I heard a report about Bush signing Legislation that would require all vehicles to get something like no less than 30MPG in a few years. I believe the technology is available now and has been around for a while to meet these standards, even in V8's. The Oil Companies are definately putting the squeeze on consumers and at the same time making huge profits. I agree with the earlier thread about our Nation needing to tap our resources and rely less on other Countries for Oil. I am no economist, but I do know that when it comes to supply and demand, Oil Companies and the Middle East can control this market, not so much consumers.

Some of us do not have the luxury of being able to look back now and say I should have chosen a different career path. It would be hard to sell a boat and truck, if you make a living as a fishing guide. I imagine the ones who stick around will just have to increase prices and customers will hopefully be able to afford this entertainment. Gas Prices hit some much harder than others, and if you own and outboard it really hurts some of us on a tight budget. I think the price at the pump will force some guides and recreational fishermen out regardless.
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Grind

[slimfishin]

yeah i agree with everyone here. im only 21 and i can remember being able to fill my first truck up with 20-30 or so dollars...it over 50 now, being in college, food, books you get the idea. i still got roughly 2 more years before i graduate and the loans are stacking up. yep..it sucks but i still go fishin to get my mind off of it and you know what it cost $50+ just to get my mind off of it. imagine that

[fishinglady]

As I understand it, a lot of the price of gas being so high has to do more with lack of refineries than a shortage of oil. It seems that no new refineries have been built here in the US in the last couple of decades. Plus, the oil companies have done very little in the way of upkeep of existing refineries....shown by all the recent explosions and leaks at various facilities and pipelines. With BILLIONS of dollars in profits each quarter, the oil companies could have spent some on modernization and maintenance, but that would have cut into the profits and the multimillion dollar bonuses to the CEOs.

As someone else pointed out, the many mergers of oil companies in the last few years has led to an effective monopoly in the oil/gas industry. Whatever happened to the windfall profit tax?

[dave]

[FlakMan]

What fuel has the energy density of hydrocarbons (ex: BTUs /pound)? It's not ethanol. far less energy density and if it replaces even 1/2 our demand your food cost would be out of sight. The only true answer is ultra efficient engines that save braking energy and extract maximum usable power out of a gallon of fuel. Hybrids are expensive but will grow in use. There are new diesel engines coming out that are extremely efficient.

Your $$ are worth a whale of alot less than they once did. Gold sold at $300/Oz in 2002. It sells for $950/oz today. ie gold is worth over 3 time more in dollars today. Oil prices in 2002 were $25/bbls they are $100/bbl today. The same thing happened with oil - as your dollar lost value you had to come up with more dollars.

[ccbobber]

the war is the # 1 reason for our gas prices. it is draining our dollar value on the int'l scene. it is not so much that Canada & Euro countries are getting stronger as it is we are getting weaker. WE NEED NEW REFINERIES . all of the enviromental groups will have to cope. until our gov't has the guts to build refineries, we will be in the krapper. if you wait for oil companies to build with all the heiferdust they have to go thru you will be back to biking to work.
2 people kayak for rent to guides who need to take clients fishing.
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ccbobber

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

Hey Bobber....How much to rent the kayaks..by the day, hr., week or month. I'll be walking to my new job at Stripes soon too...

Mike

[landlocked beachbum]

Bayslammer, I too am self employed and in the service business, even though it's not a guide business. I have had to do just as you say [raise my rates] twice in the last two years just to keep up with and hopefully overcome the extra outlay in fuel. You are right about technology and the ability to make V8 vehicles that would get much better fuel economy but at what cost? There ain't no free lunch anyway you cut it. Having to pay $50,000 for what is now $35,000 vehicle just to get the new technology is painful in the extreme but is where we are headed.

We should have been drilling in ANWR 15 - 20 years ago. The liberals that say there are only six months worth of oil there and that the Caribou and other fauna and flora would be permanently damaged said exactly the same thing back in the early 70's while trying to stop the Alaska pipeline, which by the way is still pumping and hasn't had any noticeable negative affect on any of the above. Before somebody hits me with the Exxon Valdes oil spill, that had nothing to do with the pipeline, just a drunk captain and a lousy crew.

One thing that I WILL fault the American oil companies for is sitting on their laurels raking it in while they can. They know darn good and well that if they did build new wells and refineries their bottom line would go down, not up as it has been doing for the last few years. It's like that famous line from the movie Wallstreet: "Greed Is Good !"
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Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[Drake]

ANWR would have helped if we had drilled it 4 - 6 years ago. Drilling the wells is one thing delivering, in this instance via pipeline and the construction of that line, is a 3 - 5 year job. That window has closed.

I really recommend the rum gentle folks I am not as tense and now I am even brave enough to burn some frickin gas

[Drake]

I believe that is you calculated the % rise in the price of a gallon of refined gasoline the increase we are feeling is directly proportional to the increase in demand in places like China and India.

[Nailsy]

Leave Exxon alone. They don't set oil and gas prices. The market sets oil and gas prices. They in no way control the price. They are raking it in right now in a highly cyclical business. Their profit margin is lower than a number of global businesses. They spend ALOT of money. They spend more than any other company searching for alternative fuels. They pay more taxes in one year than 50 percent of Americans combined.
I filled up my vehicle today and it cost me $72.00. Yes I think that is rediculous. Yes I think that oil and gas prices are outrageous, and this is how I make my living. I dont have all the answers, but griping about how much money the CEO's at Exxon make will not fix anything.
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"Bring your friends, we'll give em' a ride in SUCK MY WAKE"

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

Point well taken Nailsy......I think I'll pick on Shell for awhile.

Mike

[Tyler]

At least Exxon told Chavez to stick it when he nationalized their projects in the Orinoco.

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

You guys that are stepping up for the oil and gas business are absolutely
right. I just need to sit down and shut up. OK with me.

Mike