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Comment by Michael & Patricia Maire on September 19, 2008 at 1:28am

Hi, Sorry I haven't been on here much. My job has been really hectic lately.
I wrote an email to Exxon recently. Here is my letter to them, and below it is the response I got.

I am a strong believer in giving back what you get. Which leads me to ask the following;
Given the record profits that Exxon has made don't you think it is time to give back to the people who have given you those profits?
Would it really hurt to drop the price of gas back to $2.00 a gallon? With your reported profits I can't see that giving back would destroy Exxon.
Thank you
Michael Maire
Supporter of Pickens Plan.

Dear Mr. Maire,

Thank you for your recent communication expressing concern about higher
prices for gasoline and energy products.

We recognize that energy price increases have put a strain on many
household budgets. We also know that some hold the oil and gas industry
directly responsible for these price increases and quite frankly, this
conclusion is not correct. There are several factors that are helpful to
consider as we look at what is causing higher gasoline and energy prices.

Crude Oil

Crude oil, the world’s foremost energy source - is a true global commodity,
traded freely in markets worldwide. Prices for crude oil, which now
account for well over 60 percent of the price Americans pay at the pump,
are set on competitive global markets. No single company sets the price
for crude oil or even influences how these prices are set. Even as the
largest private energy company in the world, ExxonMobil only represents 3
percent of global oil production. We also buy nearly two times more crude
oil than we produce, as we do not produce nearly enough crude oil to keep
our ExxonMobil refineries and plants supplied. Also, our crude oil supply
costs are higher partly due to the weaker value of the U.S. dollar.

Global Supply and Demand

The market forces of supply and demand are the fundamental factors that
influence crude oil prices. Growing demand for transportation fuels, in
developing nations like China and India alone have driven demand increases
at twice the historic average in several recent years. Americans drive
around 3 trillion miles per year, almost twice as much as we did in 1980
(1.5 trillion miles), now demanding about 400 million gallons of gasoline a
day. On the supply side, geopolitical developments have curtailed
production and driven up prices at various points in time.

Industry Earnings in Context

In a high commodity demand/price environment, which currently exists,
industry earnings will generally rise. However, the oil and gas industry
profits are comparable to other U.S. industries, 9.5 cents for every dollar
of sales compared to an average of 8.2 cents for all U.S. manufacturers in
2006. You also might find it interesting to know that 70 percent of
ExxonMobil revenues are generated outside the U.S. And, with respect to
the price you pay at your local service station, independently owned
operators set those retail prices in competition with one another.
ExxonMobil owns and operates less than 900 of the 170,000 service stations
in the United States; that is less than 1 percent.

Investing in Tomorrow's Energy

In our view and probably your own as well, another important question is
what are we doing with the money we earn? In the past twenty years, we
have invested about $280 billion worldwide on capital and exploration
expenditures to develop new energy supplies -- a figure that exceeds our
total earnings over that period.

Looking ahead, the International Energy Agency has estimated that the oil
and gas industry will need to invest at least $20 trillion in new oil and
gas production and infrastructure through 2030 to meet the future growth in
global demand. Much of this projected growth in energy use is attributable
to improving living standards for billions of people in the developing
world. Only profitable companies will be able to make the investments
needed to compete in global energy markets and to develop the energy
supplies we will need in the future.

Government Taxes

Stable and impartial tax and regulatory policies are critical to companies
looking to invest on the scale noted above. You most likely are not aware
that for every dollar of ExxonMobil’s revenue, on average around 25 cents
is paid to governments, while ExxonMobil earns just over a dime. In 2006,
ExxonMobil earned $39.5 billion, but paid over $100 billion in taxes
worldwide. Over the past five years (2002-2006), ExxonMobil’s U.S. tax
bill was nearly $60 billion, exceeding our total U.S. earnings during that
time by over $20 billion. Without question, we are one of the world’s
biggest taxpayers and are therefore very concerned about the harmful
impacts of current proposals to impose even higher taxes on our industry.
Our government can help meet America’s growing energy needs by ensuring
reliable and impartial rules for all energy investments that will allow
American companies to compete internally.

Your email is important to us. We know price increases and our company’s
earnings have raised questions and deserve explanation. While we hope that
this response provides you with a better understanding of our company's
challenges and of the global energy markets in which we participate, we
would encourage you to look at our web site www.exxonmobil.com as well as
the web site of the American Petroleum Institute www.energytomorrow.org for
more information.

At ExxonMobil, we’re committed to pricing responsibly and investing for the
future. Please know that every day our 82,000 employees worldwide are
working extremely hard to provide energy supplies to consumers at
competitive prices.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,

Ashley Galbraith
Exxon Mobil Corporation

Comment by Tamas on September 7, 2008 at 3:56pm

The easiest way to save fuel is to use the car's momentum instead of fuel to move the vehicle.

You can get all the tips at the US DOE website www.fueleconomy.gov.

Or at www.extra-mpg.com

Tamas

Comment by Mike Knox on September 7, 2008 at 11:08am

BIG TIPS ON PUMPING YOUR GAS


I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California
we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of
work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks
to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about
4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is
diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium
grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of
16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground
temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their
storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the
more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying
in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a
gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the
temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other
petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service
stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast
mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages:
low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed,
thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are
pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are
pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank
becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the
underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your
money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL
or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your
tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates
faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal
floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the
atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here
where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that
every gallon is actually the exact amount.


Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when
you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is
being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick
up some f the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this
will help you get the most value for your money.


DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON

Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.

An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.


These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell...............................205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco...............144,332,000 barrels

Exxon/Mobil................... 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway........117,740,000 barrels

Amoco.............................62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the
math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now
$90 - $100 a barrel

Here are some large companies that DO NOT import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco...................0 barrels

Sinclair...................0 barrels

BP/Phillips..............0 barrels

Hess.......................0 barrels

ARC0.....................0 barrels

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do.

Comment by Carol on July 25, 2008 at 1:48pm

I'll be checking in on a regular basis for ideas...thanks for this group.
Carol
Spokane for Pickens Plan group

Comment by Michael & Patricia Maire on July 24, 2008 at 4:02am

I received an email response from Senator Bill Nelson [FL] yesterday. I would like to share with everyone. I left off the BS greeting, but the rest of it reads as follows;

The oil industry has 32 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico that are leased but have not been drilled.
Why?
President Bush has proposed allowing drilling rigs off coastal States as a way, he says, to reduce gasoline prices. But he must know this won't happen. That's because a report from inside the Bush administration specifically shows that increasing offshore drilling won't have a significant impact on gas prices for decades.

And we simply cannot wait that long on the hope of giving Americans some relief at the pump.

To lower gas prices now by an estimated 25 to 50 percent, we must rein in the real culprits: speculators who are able, because of legal loopholes, to bid up the price of oil to unrealistic and shocking highs. Oil now costs about $140 per barrel, but recent congressional testimony from a leading industry executive showed that the price of crude should only be $55 per barrel given the laws of supply and demand. That means gas prices should be about $2.28 a gallon-- not more than $4.

This is why I have introduced legislation-- S. 3134-- that would ban unregulated speculative trading in oil futures. If Congress will pass this bill, we can bring gas prices back down to earth.

The oil companies claim loudly that they need to drill off the coast of Florida so they can increase the oil supply. But what they won't tell you is that they aren't drilling on 32 million of acres they already have under lease from the Federal government. I think they should drill there first-- in areas where the infrastructure for transporting oil already exists-- before demanding more areas be open to leasing and drilling activities that could take years to produce a single drop of oil.

Americans are being gouged, and now is not the time to allow the administration to give away the store before it leaves office. It's time to do what's really necessary to lower the price of gas: rein in profiteers and speculators. I hope you will be able to support passage of S. 3134. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office again.

As I went thru the senates legislation, I found that only 6 other Senators have supported Bill Nelson with this bill.
They are;
Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT]
Sen Klobuchar, Amy [MN]
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA]
Sen Webb, Jim [VA]
Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND]
& Sen Obama, Barack [IL]

With todays government, how much trust do you put into what they say? And if you trust them, is this proposed bill really going to do any good?
What do you think?

Comment by Bill Mollring on July 22, 2008 at 8:02am

Thank you for starting this site. I am very interested in seeing how alternative energy ideas develop across the country. Please include me on your updates and notices. I wish you much success. We are listed on the Pickens Plan as Mariah Power.
You are invited to join our group for updates on the Windspire and
other alternative energy items and ideas.
http://www.push.pickensplan.com/group/mariahpower
To see our other alternative energy sources please go to:
http://www.emsystems.net
Aloha, Bill