Still wrong. Since I work for an independent fuel wholesaler, I purchase fuel from Exxon/ Mobil, Shell, Valero (biggest brand in the US), Sunoco, Marathon, Gulf, Petroleum Products, Semfuel, Murphy (yes the company that runs Wal Mart stations)and BP every day. I sell this fuel to all kinds of independent dealers, Chain gas stations, farm supply companies, and trucking companies.
If you just don't purchase fuel at a major brander, it doesn't hurt them at all. #1, they will just sell the fuel to somebody else. #2 most stores that are branded are not even owned by that company.
As an example of #2 locally would be Bell Stores Marathon. These stores are not owned by Marathon, but by Campbell Oil in Massillon, Ohio. Another example of this are the Shell stations in the Akron, Cleveland, and Youngstown area. They are owned by Lyden Oil of Youngstown, Ohio.
Here is a great idea that would really work. Please pass it along to the same people that you passed that poorly thought out plan.
#1 DRIVE LESS!!! If everybody drove less, then they would use less gasoline. This would increase the inventory on hand. Every Wednesday at 10:30 AM, the federal government releases the current inventory of oil and fuel on hand. If inventory increases, the wholesale price decreases.
#2 Buy more efficient cars. Back in the 70's (for those of you who can remember back that far), when the price of gasoline went from $0.25 to over $1.00 per gallon, people got rid of all of their 6-10 MPG cars to 4 cylinder cars that got 15-20 MPG. If you are driving a big 8-cylinder SUV that gets 10 MPG and drive 500 miles per week, you would use 50 gallons per week. If you replace that gas hog with a car that gets 20 MPG, you only use 25 gallons per week.
Let's do some math. 50 Gal @ $3.50 per gal for 52 weeks is 2600 gal per year for a total of $7800. The smaller car that gets 20 MPG would only use 1300 gal for a total of $3900. Let's take that one step further. If you cut out your unnecessary driving and drive 100 miles less a week, you would save an additional 5 gallons per week, or 260 gallons a year. So, if you buy a more efficient car, and cut down on your driving, your gas bill would cut from $7800 to $3640 per year.
If 100,000 people follow my plan, this would save 156,000,000 gallons of gasoline per year!!!! That is just for 100,000 people.
If you think that your local gas station likes the current retail price of gasoline, you are dead wrong. The profit in running a gas station is not in the gasoline, but in the cigarettes, beer, pop, candy, snacks etc. If you are spending more for gasoline, then you are spending less on all of their other products. Understand that the big oil companies, who are raking in record profits, don't own that many gas stations. They promote their brand by "renting" their good name to local companies who use that brand name to draw in customers. The people who own most of your local gas stations are hardly making a living.
Fact: If we filled up every car in the U.S. on one day, we would deplete the entire supply of refined gas on hand. Big oil charges what they do for gasoline for one big reason. BECAUSE THEY CAN!!!!!! They have been raising prices steadily since 9-11-01, and we continue to purchase gasoline at an ever increasing rate. As long as we do nothing to use less gasoline, they can continue to increase price.
WAKE UP PEOPLE! If you keep on buying it at the same or an increasing rate, they will continue to hike up the price!!!
