What can I do to help lower oil/gas prices?

Question

What are some daily things that individuals like me can do to help ease the world's messy oil situation?

Answer 1

Drive less, use public transportation more, or walk/ride a bike. I know everyone says that, but it really will help.

Answer 2

You may be surprised to know that I don't own any vehicle nor can I drive any. In India, it is possible to spend whole life  without a vehicle.

You can take the following steps for save oil/gas.

1) Don't use your vehicle for small distances - upto 2 kilometers. If you walk small distances, it is good for health.

2) If possible, use car-pool for commuting to the office.

3) Don't go for shopping to buy some single item. Plan your shopping such that in a single trip, you buy more of your needs thereby reducing shopping trips.

4) Use public transport wherever possible.

5) I don't know where in USA you live. There are places in USA where central AC is not necessary. You can switch off central AC is not required during some part of the year.

6) Inspire others for economy measures for oil/gas.

Crude prices started rising since 1973. I recall that time the price was $ 32 a barrel and analysts used to predict $100 in a year. But it took more than 33 years to reach that figure. The main reason why the crude price was halted that time was that the middle eastern countries who were benefitting by the rise were adversely affected by the rise in prices of the other goods that they were importing. There are many goods that are not manufactured in the middle-east. Sooner or later these goods will be so costly that the advantage of high crude price to these countries will be washed off. Sooner they realize it better will it be for all.

Answer 3

insist your congressman immediately introduce a bill prohibiting the Fed from manipulating the money supply and our economy.  But be careful congress doesn't replace the Fed with itself!

before you even start, understand it's not oil up, it's dollar down.

Answer 4

First, the USA uses 25% of the worlds oil and its population is roughly 300,000,000.  Therefore, your personal share of world consumption is 1: 1.2x10^9

In other words you, and your daily activity is not even a drop in the old barrel.

But, one person may be insignificant, but a group is not.

The first thing to realize is that this price spike is important and to recognize it.  It is the result of a) the falling dollar, b) stupid USA foreign policy, c) oil producer's oligopoly, d) static production, and e) increasing world demand, particularly from China and India.  The recent price spike is a random fluctuation, and prices will go down a little at some point, but the long term trend is up.

In economic terms, the spike is a good thing.  It is a signal that we need to adapt to the higher long-term prices.

Best thing for you to do is to pretend oil and gas is $10 per gallon and not $4.00 and start adapting.  This country uses twice as much oil per capita as similar countries such as japan and those in western europe.  This means less driving, smaller cars, and alternative energy sources.  Also, slightly smaller, more energy efficient homes located nearer to work.   If 100,000,000 people like you think that way, it will help.

*****

I heard the tail end of a radio show last night.  One of the guests (I not sure whom) said:  "Here we are burning up in a mere one hundred years a resource which took millions of years to create ."  Worth thinking about.

Answer 5

Invade Saudi Arabia?!

Unfortunately... (as consumers) there is nothing we can do to lower the price of oil/gas.  If you think abstinence is going to have some effect, you're wrong.  OPEC will merely sell their crude to China.  

Abstinence only effects the retailers.  The oil companies don't give a toss whether you buy it or not.  They know d**n well that for every person who thinks a day of black-balling or people who think cutting back on their vehicle-usage will affect the oil company's profit... there's a dozen kids who have just got their licence and are determined to hit the highway.

If you want to get the prices lowered... try writing to your member of parliament/congressman.  Although (given that politicians don't pay for their fuel anyway)... I don't think they're particularly fussed about what the price is at the gas station.

I know it sounds cynical... but that's the reality of the matter.  

If you want cheaper fuel... convert to biodiesel or ethanol.

Answer 6

make driving more effectively

Answer 7

Kill your daily terrorist.

Answer 8

Cut way back on your driving.  Combine errands so you can do them all at once.

Maybe if we all do this, it will cut the demand for foreign oil.

Answer 9

At the risk of sounding fatalistic, there really isn't much that individuals can do about the gas PRICES. However you can lower your gas COSTS by driving less.

The state of oil affairs is such that any little thing is likely to kick off price hikes. The global oil resource is in the process of being depleted and as it becomes more scarce, it is next to impossible to keep the prices down.

You need to hope your government implements alternatives e.g. fuel cell cars operating on hydrogen, or electric cars using Li-ion batteries, etc. Renewable energy is the solution to the oil prices you face.

Answer 10

It's funny, but if you actually look at the messy oil situation, it has its roots in the very costly manner in which oil is obtained, and then refined into gasoline.  The drilling and extraction method often puts rig's drill bits 15000 feet into the ground, sometimes going through the mantle of the earth, and this is just the oil we have been able to obtain.  Much of it is simply beyond our current technology to get to.

More than that, refineries are working at capacity, and demand is still skyrocketing, particularly with nations like India and China industrializing, although to their credit, these nations are heavily investing in research to attempt to move toward more environmentally friendly, not to mention economical and energy-independent, manners of transport.  It isn't all that apparent if you go to Beijing, where there are literally a few million cars, busses, trucks, and gas-powered bicycles rolling down the roads, but the change is slowly, but surely taking place.

Be mindful of one thing when filling up: the gas stations are not getting rich off of this hike.  The only ones making any real profit are the few bigwigs who own the oil companies, and the gas stations, pipelines, truckers, and really, everyone except the bigwigs, are taking the hit just like we are.  The average gas station makes a few cents a gallon on gasoline, and most of the time, that goes into maintenance and taxes.  The real money in a gas station comes from candy bars, beverages, and incidentals like that.

Here, we have developments underway, that if implemented, could break the American dependence on foreign oil quite rapidly, but it takes a concerted effort, and unfortunately, it's got to be the automotive industry taking the initiative and allowing these alternative energy automobiles to enter the market (such as electric cars, pressurized air engines (such as that developed by MDI or the diPietro engine developed by EngineAir in Australia), and possibly even hydrogen vehicles, once fuel cell technology reaches a suitable level) although infrastructure would need to be constructed for each of these.  Of course, when you consider that America spends about 700 billion dollars a year on oil, and the construction of such infrastructure would likely cost just a bit above that figure, and would make for hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars of savings for the American people over the coming years, it doesn't make much sense, does it?

As for what you yourself can do?  Drive less, carpool, don't take pleasure drives just to get out.  Instead, grab a bike and an mp3 player or something like that.  If you want to get very ambitious, you can cut out your personal oil consumption entirely by getting an electric car, although I'm not sure I would suggest this for anyone planning on long trips, as current technology simply does not have the battery power required for such trips.

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In response to ethanol, in its current form (corn ethanol), it is not cost-effective to make the switch, and fuel efficiency is greatly hindered.  Not only that, but there isn't a good cheap fix that converts a gasoline engine to an E-85 compatible engine.

Biodiesel is not a particularly bad choice, although it is still very pricey, and still a bit harder to find.

As for the congressmen and government officials, I don't think they care, but to be even more cynical, I don't think they have a reason to care, because either directly or indirectly, they profit from the oil industry.

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Quick response to the government implementing alternatives:

Actually, you need to hold out hope that the automotive companies and oil companies stop buying up patents on alternative energy and renewable energy engines, or that one company, or even individual developer, has the fortitude to stand up to these companies and turn down their pressure to sell patents on these technologies.

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Quick response to last comment:

Yes, the dollar is down...But oil and gasoline prices have indeed skyrocketed here and abroad...refinery hits, pipelines rupturing, etc...The dollar falling is not the thing driving the oil prices up...Scarcity and demand _are_...basic economic principles at play...