Monday, April 4, 2011
Oil companies price gouge?
Do oil companies make a larger profit by price gouging? If they do, is it really fair? The united states does not heavily tax gasoline like most other countries in an attempt to try and preserve consumption. Some companies will wait until the price of gas has increased to a certain point so they can make a higher profit. It could compared to a mining company. Some companies may have started to price gouge just to make a higher profit, it is unclear to me at this point. I am still researching into this claim, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10082724/ns/business-answer_desk/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have always heard that gasoline stations could not raise their per gallon rates until a new shipment of fuel was delivered. In other words; they could not just decide to charge more one day because everyone else was, they had to wait until they sold the old inventory at the older price. Is that true? I learned this from an advocacy group's protest about price gouging a few years ago when fuel was spiking higher for a few months. I can't recall who it was that went after some of the local stations, but they did so with that law in mind.
ReplyDeletecommenting on what Rachele's comment above ,what you are referring to is what accountants would call Fifo and Lifo, first in, first out versus last in first out. I do think that gas stations price gauge to help their profit margins. I think this is done by charging currently high prices on older inventory that was purchased at an earlier price. Gas station owners tell me different but everybody lies.
ReplyDeletethat's a good question...I am interested to see what the results of your inquires are here. I wonder if the profits really are that high for each gas station out there or if the oil companies have that much impact on the world that they control more money that expected
ReplyDeleteGreat conversation brewing here.
ReplyDelete