I got this from the So-Cal SERCA list. It sound like a good idea if you ask me.

Martin G



Subject: Gasoline prices

I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the summer. Want
gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some united,
intelligent action. Phillip Hollsworth, offered this good idea: This
makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day"
campaign that was going around last year. The oil companies just laughed

at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by
refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a

problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a
plan that can really work. Please read it and join with us!
By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super
cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.97 for regular unleaded in my town.
(California).
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to
think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at$1.50-$1.75 we need to

take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace

....not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we
consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the
price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not
purchasing THEIR gas!! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
How?
Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we
CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price

war. Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, starting as soon after April 1st as possible,

DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now
are one), EXXON and MOBIL.
If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their
prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to
follow suit.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and
Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, don't whimp out at
this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach
millions of people!! .
I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of them send it
to 10 more (30 x 10 = 300) and those 300 send it to at 10 more (300 x
10= 3,000) ... and so on, by the time this message reaches the sixth
generation of people, we will
have reached over 3 MILLION consumers!
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each,

then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes only one
level further, you guessed it.....THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!.
All you have to do is send this to ten people. That's all. (If you don't

understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send
this to 10 people.... well, there it is, in black and white, so trust me

on this one.)
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to
ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MI LLION people could

conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days. I'll bet you didn't
think you and I had that much potential, did you? Acting together we can

make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this
message on.
PLEASE GIVE IT A TRY UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES AND KEEP THEM DOWN.
THIS CAN REALLY WORK IF WE DON'T DELETE THIS AND KEEP IT GOING. DO IT
NOW, WHILE IT IS IN FRONT OF YOU. WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE AND WE'VE
EVERYTHING TO GAIN AND START IT YOURSELF WITH YOUR NEXT FILL-UP.

I don't know if it would work... but it's worth a shot.

I've been doing this since I started driving in 1995. I haven't seen an Exxon station around here in a few years, and I haven't seen a Mobil station since the 80's. I started out with Shell, then moved over to Chevron for the Techron additive, then back to Shell since I have a Shell Mastercard. :)

But I like my speedpass...:D

and all you have to do is send this to 10 people....

I like the idea, however the fact that this message takes a turn and becomes such a blatant pyramid (broadcast) letter is a turn-off. It takes away from the validity of the intent.

Still I think it's a good idea and will give it a try for the next several months. Let's see what happens.

Originally posted by kpw97
But I like my speedpass...:D

Me too.. thats the only way i buy gas

I do not think that it will work, the buyers really do not control this market.

If you stop buying from the largest oil company the other oil companies will not be able to keep up with demand. They will then have to revert to buying thier additional oil from Exxon.

Exxon also has the ability to do other things that will make the matter worse for us. Such as buying up smaller companies to eliminate the compitetion. Not easy, but it hurt.

Since they carry so much clout they could also lower gas prices low enough that the others cannot compete driving smaller companies out of business or make them unprofitable and easier to purchase. Once you are the only shop in town you can make the prices much higher.

They also own most the ships that bring oil over here. Not good for us either.

Of course the government can step in and break them up like with Standard Oil and all that was change the name (Chevron)

I hope gas goes to $5.00 a gallon. Then every car maker will not have 5 different SUV's to choose from. After all the last gas crunch is what really started sport compact cars.

don't forget, gasoline prices are derived from crude oil prices. if we all pitch and tell OPEC to shove it up their arabian (no offense to any arabic members) a$$es, then perhaps they might get a clue. doubtful, but still a possibility.

I HATE chain mail crap...:mad:

Originally posted by nigbot4000
I hope gas goes to $5.00 a gallon. Then every car maker will not have 5 different SUV's to choose from. After all the last gas crunch is what really started sport compact cars.

I propose we all take a trip to Europe so we can condition ourselves to think that $2 per gallon is cheap. Then we can all come home and make fun of whiners in the U.S. who drive new cars that get 13mpg and really affect gas prices with their DEMAND. Selective consumption does not affect overall DEMAND since oil all basically comes from the same place at a fixed price.

Chris

This idea smacks of the classic "free lunch" idea. If we do this we will put one of the biggie's out of business and then their will be less competition. Prices for gas are fixed by demand and by opec. If you really want to hurt the gas companies don't buy the over priced stuff in thier stores. That is were they make the money. The gas gets you in to buy the coffee for a dollor that only cost 10cents. My girlfreinds father in college owned a store and the gas made him about a 10% profit. Food was 100% or more. If we stop buying food then they will raise gas prices to get the money in some fashion. What we really need to do is buy less gas and have cars that get better mileage also. Another option is to vote for drilling in Alaska. See all of our options suck.

Steve

sorry but Mobil is my brand of gas. :cool:

Somehow, I think we should get our new friends in Russia to help out. Russia is the world's 2nd largest oil exporting country in the world and is NOT a member of OPEC so they can do what they want.

I read that the gas price/crunch last year was due in part to an inability to refine enough gas quickly enough. The oil companies had limited supplies to raise prices, which only aggravated the refinement problem. I wonder how many different brands of gasoline go through the exact same refinement plants? I've heard companies co-op some of them, which means the gas you get at a variety of stations comes from the same place.

Refusing to buy at an Exxon station would probably hurt the station more than the oil supplier. Mom and Pop make razor thin profits on gas sales to begin with (drinks, snacks, and smokes are a major supplement to the store's profits).

The smart thing to do is to moderate and have a gradual rampdown of oil dependence. Until alternative energy sources becomes viable, most people should be buying efficient subcompacts, diesels, and hybrids, not SUVs. Mass transit should be more widespread, too. Europe has it figured out - only specialty applications like limited production sports cars and heavy commercial vehicles should be lax on gas use.

Not only would moderation save you money, but it would contribute to the quality of the environment and relax our relationship with the unstable Middle Eastern nations that have few claims other than their rich oil deposits. There's no quick fix, unlike what this half-brained scheme suggests.

Convenient timing - I just came across this link:

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/ftcr/pr/pr000771.php3

Midwestern oil refineries indeed created artifically low gasoline supplies by slowing production and exporting to other regions and countries. For three months in 2000, nearly $400 million in extra profits were reaped from Illinois alone.

Everything about the oil industry reeks. I hope these refineries face anti-trust litigation the next time they pull a stunt like this.